Health Insurance

Oxankle · #1 01/08/14, 07:59 AM

There is an interesting artical today in TOWNHALL concerning health insurance.

Barb has her own insurance thru the United Nations, a legacy from her late husband, and quite inexpensive to her. I pay something over $600 per month for mine; my only deductibles are 20% of my drug prescriptions. Both our plans comply with the law so we'll not have to change anything.

The article this morning compared Walmart's plan and Obamacare. This is copy and paste:

The unsubsidized premium for a nonsmoking couple age 60 can cost $1,365 per month [under Obamacare] versus the Walmart cost of about $134 for the same couple.

The article goes on to say that the peons at Walmart pay exactly the same amount as the executives---of course it is a much larger percentage of the peon's pay.

Now, we all know that Walmart is not Santa Clause; if a tight-fisted corporation like Walmart can do it, what is the secret here?

Has anyone here signed up for the ACA? If so, what did you find. I know from personal experience that some of you must qualify for the govt. subsidy. Anyone signed up? What was your cost and deductible?

Also, do any of you have private plans that have notified you that your plan qualifies and does not have to change?
Ox

frogmammy · #2 01/08/14, 09:31 AM

I have a private plan through DH's insurance...sent me a message that it DOES comply, and it went down $10 a month. My plan costs pretty much what the Walmart one does, but I DO have Medicare, too, at $105 a month.

Mon

Oxankle · #3 01/08/14, 01:31 PM

When Medicare came in all government employees were immediately put on it. The moment we turned sixty five Medicare became our insurer, and our previously solid gold insurance became a top-of-the line Medicare supplement.

I do pay for Medicare, just as you all do. As soon as the ACA is fully implemented you can expect that to apply to government employees too.

Chuck

wyld thang · #4 01/08/14, 01:47 PM

what is health insurance?

I just adjusted my w-4 at my part time job for no deductions...

trish4prez · #5 01/08/14, 02:24 PM

My employer plan qualifies but the premium went up 50% and the deductible doubled from $2500 to $5000.

Oxankle · #6 01/08/14, 03:10 PM

Wyld Thang:
I am no fan of Obamacare, but it is intended to cover your insurance needs. Under that plan you will probably pay very little, as low as $1 per month AND if you don't sign up you'll be penalized. You should at least look into it.

Trish; I expect to hear many stories like yours. I expect to be among them before long. Once the ACA gets dominance private insurers will bail out of the market and employers will dump employees onto Obamacare.

The plan cannot work unless all the young and healthy people sign up and cover part of the costs for the older, sicker ones. If they are young, healthy and employed the fines are less than the insurance costs---why sign up? Add to that the costs for those exempted in total (illegals, etc), those who do not report income, etc, etc and the costs will skyrocket. Finally, when the exemption for unions go out employers will dump those plans onto the ACA.

The next few years are going to be interesting. To be brutally honest, had my Pat, with a broken hip and having Pulmonary Fibrosis, been in the hospital today they would probably not have replaced her hip. They are already making those evaluations in England. Hospitals have been getting bonuses for quick end of life outcomes for older people. Big scandal not long ago. Not death panels, just relative value evaluations.

The fines for not signing up, or for dropping out, are another story. If you have a bank account they can go in there and get the money. If you don't have a bank account then what? Will they attach your property?

trish4prez · #7 01/08/14, 03:24 PM

So true, Ox.

Basically, for standard healthcare, I pay out of pocket. Nevermind, that I also pay for health coverage. While it is considered one of the top plans, it will only pay for wellness visits, or if something catastrophic happens and I meet the $5000 deductible. I hope THAT doesn't happen!!

Last year, I paid for every visit, except mammo and my yearly checkup. I had an issue I wanted to address at the yearly visit, but didn't because it would then have had a diagnosis, for which I would have had to pay. I spent $2140 on dr visits, so less than $400 more and I would have met the deductible. At that point, 80% would have been covered, so still would have had out of pocket expenses.

Sorry, this gets me riled, and I probably didn't make much sense!!

Oxankle · #8 01/08/14, 04:07 PM

Unfortunately, Trish, it does make sense, and now you have a $5,000 deductible. A lot of us are going to find this fits us too.

What were our senators thinking of?
Ox

SimplerTimez · #9 01/08/14, 08:50 PM

My employer plan qualifies, went up only14.00 per pay period and all bennies remained the same.

~ST

Oxankle · #10 01/09/14, 07:31 AM

SimplerTimez; Good plan; the increase covered the "pre-existing conditions", the removal of lifetime caps, expected inflation, etc.

Would you tell us what industry you are in? The make-up of the insured group has a lot to do with rates.

I'm in a Blue Cross-Blue Shield plan, pretty stable. Govt employees can choose from a whole list of plans, all pretty much alike but each with some differences and differing rates.

sherry in Maine · #11 01/09/14, 08:21 PM

my plan was raised 30 or 40 bucks per year.
It stays the same. If I understand correctly, I wont lose it.

SimplerTimez · #12 01/09/14, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oxankle

SimplerTimez; Good plan; the increase covered the "pre-existing conditions", the removal of lifetime caps, expected inflation, etc.

Would you tell us what industry you are in? The make-up of the insured group has a lot to do with rates.

Sure, I am in the IT industry. Small, privately owned company, although we do have a board, and stock holders.

Basically a bunch of nerdy people that stay up too late online (swapping between work log ins and fun), most of us on-call, anal-retentive about work and have lots of bad habits like too much caffeine, too many cigarettes, and a hankerin' for fast cars and music. We work stupidly long hours because we care about what we do. High-stress jobs, little sleep.

Oh, and no social life, lol!

~ST

Oxankle · #13 01/10/14, 07:56 AM

Timez: I'll bet your group of insured people are all fairly young and healthy? No major problems and no pre-existing conditions? That could account for low rates.
Ox

silvernomad · #14 01/10/14, 08:35 AM

My self insured plan went up 30 to 300/ month, which is a stretch for me- my plan is grandfathered so will stay the same otherwise. If I change it to cover preventative costs, I will lose the plan, at 3000 deductible/ 50 percent after to 5000 out of pocket. If I go on ACA, I will qualify for assistance to make it between 80-250 a month for more coverage but deductible goes up to 6000 thru my current company.. I found a 600 deductible thru BCBS if I take govt money to make it 100 a month. Problem is, I don't WANT subsidized care- my pride is involved- but they are forcing me to take it, pretty much. Insurance companies are raising prices to cover the mandated care and now it's just beyond what I can pay. I feel lowered in my own eyes- my friends are all excited to get cheap care, I must be an idiot. Or just independent and self sustaining- til now. I'm confused as to what to do next. Will probably pay my current plan a while still until I figure it out.

arcticow · #15 01/10/14, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oxankle

Wyld Thang:
I am no fan of Obamacare, but it is intended to cover your insurance needs. Under that plan you will probably pay very little, as low as $1 per month AND if you don't sign up you'll be penalized. You should at least look into it.

Trish; I expect to hear many stories like yours. I expect to be among them before long. Once the ACA gets dominance private insurers will bail out of the market and employers will dump employees onto Obamacare.

The plan cannot work unless all the young and healthy people sign up and cover part of the costs for the older, sicker ones. If they are young, healthy and employed the fines are less than the insurance costs---why sign up? Add to that the costs for those exempted in total (illegals, etc), those who do not report income, etc, etc and the costs will skyrocket. Finally, when the exemption for unions go out employers will dump those plans onto the ACA.

The next few years are going to be interesting. To be brutally honest, had my Pat, with a broken hip and having Pulmonary Fibrosis, been in the hospital today they would probably not have replaced her hip. They are already making those evaluations in England. Hospitals have been getting bonuses for quick end of life outcomes for older people. Big scandal not long ago. Not death panels, just relative value evaluations.

The fines for not signing up, or for dropping out, are another story. If you have a bank account they can go in there and get the money. If you don't have a bank account then what? Will they attach your property?

Whoa there..the cost of ACA is directly related to where you live..as in, which state and where in that state. I did a search for John..LOWEST ACA policy for him will cost $376/month, and that's for the government's bare-bones Bronze plan..if you live in a designated "metro" area, the premiums drop like a rock..
The Bronze plan barely covers anything and has huge deductibles..

doingitmyself · #16 01/10/14, 10:29 AM

Obama Care will crash and burn within 4-5 year tops. then its going to be seriously ugly for everybody. Just my opinion but it was ill conceived to start with.

A good idea, but a dream without means.

Oxankle · #17 01/10/14, 10:53 AM

Worse even than I thought, Lesley. The whole thing was hyped as a way to help low-income people.

I expect we'll learn more by the end of the year.
Ox

susieneddy · #18 01/10/14, 11:03 AM

The company I work for was going to stop offering health insurance when ours expired last yr. We are a small company that only has 12 people. They felt it would be best if we did our searching on the ACA website instead of them offering us insurance

BCBS came back with an offer that our rates would go up 5% and our deductible went from 3K to 5K for a single person and 7k to 10k for a family. The company decided to go with that instead.

There was talk that the company decided to stay with BCBS because once the owners checked the ACA and talked to their insurance agent they found out they would be better off staying with BCBS because of their salaries.

viggie · #19 01/10/14, 12:36 PM

I do think it's sadly funny that walmarts plan that has been attacked for years is better.

Mine went up, deductible doubled, % covered after that halved, etc. Even the year I had my tonsils out, I would not have hit the deductible under my new compliant plan. Surgery 100% out of pocket when just a few years ago it was $40 for co-pays...seems kinda pointless. It's just catastrophic coverage now rather than useful insurance.

Oxankle · #20 01/10/14, 12:36 PM

What you are left with is a more expensive policy that is now no more than a catastrophic illness protection plan. You will be paying for everything else, even childbirth which most policies covered in the past. Ten grand deductible!!!!