My family's insurance program might be grandfathered in, but we are facing another rate increase. We increased our deductible, a few years ago, from $5000 (and a rate of almost $400/month) to $10,000 to lower our rates to $283/month.
Well, thanks to the extra expenses of the "Affordable" Care Act, our rates are about to jump by $50/month.
Mind you, we make about $1,500/month, when both of us are getting paychecks. There are four months of the year, when I don't get a paycheck.
I am confident that, sometime within the next couple of years, with the requirements that the insurance companies use 80% of the money coming in on medical expenses for their customers, insurance companies are going to start going under. Which means that our grandfathered plan is probably going to go up, and up, and up...and then fold from unmet business expenses.
"Affordable" Care. Uh-huh. Right. And I'm a best-selling author.
1 hour ago
Our insurance premiums have increased from $300 a month to over $700 a month now. We have a $55.00 copayment for every visit, plus a $5000 deductible for each family member, plus a 20% coinsurance for the first $10,000 for the family. This is a state plan that my wife gets as a teacher. It's virtually worthless unless there is a major catastrophe. The only good thing about it is that , since my daughter is disabled, she can stay on it as long as her mother teaches. She would be uninsurable otherwise as she has Ehlers Danlos syndrome.
ReplyDeleteWe pay in full for each visit, and after the deductible, the insurance picks up 100%.
DeleteTeachers have kick-ass health insurance. It's one of the main perks of the job, and almost makes up for having to deal with various levels of administrative bureaucracy.
I firmly believe that this was an intended consequence; to eventually force everyone onto the government plan thus, in their eyes, fundamentally transforming America and effectively making all classes equal.
ReplyDeleteNo matter how hard you work, you'll have the same crappy worthless healthcare as those who never worked a day in their life.
I firmly believe you're right. And will pay the fines, and pay cash for a doctor's visit, rather than go back on medicaid.
DeleteI'm just waiting to see what happens with our re-enrollment period, whether we see what we pay goes up the scary percentage I've heard quoted on some of the news shows. I've always been more or less happy in the past. My deductible is high, but I can usually deal with that OK. It's being asked to kick in $X extra per month for no increase in level of care that would bug me. (Also, I budget pretty tightly so I can put a fair amount aside so I'm not eating cat-food in my retirement)
ReplyDeleteOur insurance is also very widely accepted and my fear is that things will change so that I can't go to the doctors I like any more (like the one who knows not to harass me about my weight because I'm sufficiently good at harassing myself.)
I also think Matt is right, that they want everyone to get the same level of care because it's better for everyone to be miserable than for some people to be happy and a few people to be miserable. It makes me want to spit to hear that Congress has exempted itself from what's going to be a giant cluster falling right on the American taxpayer and their families.
Like I said: our premium jumped fifty dollars. I'm praying it doesn't jump any more than another fifty before my other half gets his accounting degree finished, and finds a better-paying job.
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