Self employed health insurance premiums

[Gadawg73]

Wife and I and 3 kids. ALL very healthy and NO health problems. NO prescriptions on anyone.
New health care premium came in today. 16% rise over last year, about normal for the last 15 years. On average the policy has doubled every 6 1/2 years which is average.
This year policy is 12K for 5. 61/2 years from now it will be 24 K and 13 years from now it will be 48K for the same policy.
And you folks love this blank check health care system WE NOW HAVE.
We are fast becoming a nation of village idiots. The current system is UNSUSTAINABLE.

 

[uscitizen]

I pay $1,200/mo for myself until I get on medicare pretty soon.

 

[Oddball]

Wife and I and 3 kids. ALL very healthy and NO health problems. NO prescriptions on anyone.
New health care premium came in today. 16% rise over last year, about normal for the last 15 years. On average the policy has doubled every 6 1/2 years which is average.
This year policy is 12K for 5. 61/2 years from now it will be 24 K and 13 years from now it will be 48K for the same policy.
And you folks love this blank check health care system WE NOW HAVE.
We are fast becoming a nation of village idiots. The current system is UNSUSTAINABLE.

That's what you get when states keep you captive to in-state insurance providers.

 

[Cecilie1200]

Wife and I and 3 kids. ALL very healthy and NO health problems. NO prescriptions on anyone.
New health care premium came in today. 16% rise over last year, about normal for the last 15 years. On average the policy has doubled every 6 1/2 years which is average.
This year policy is 12K for 5. 61/2 years from now it will be 24 K and 13 years from now it will be 48K for the same policy.
And you folks love this blank check health care system WE NOW HAVE.
We are fast becoming a nation of village idiots. The current system is UNSUSTAINABLE.

And you want what, exactly, instead?

 

[Bfgrn]

Wife and I and 3 kids. ALL very healthy and NO health problems. NO prescriptions on anyone.
New health care premium came in today. 16% rise over last year, about normal for the last 15 years. On average the policy has doubled every 6 1/2 years which is average.
This year policy is 12K for 5. 61/2 years from now it will be 24 K and 13 years from now it will be 48K for the same policy.
And you folks love this blank check health care system WE NOW HAVE.
We are fast becoming a nation of village idiots. The current system is UNSUSTAINABLE.

That's what you get when states keep you captive to in-state insurance providers.

The Dangers of McCain's Plan to Sell Health Insurance Across State Lines

Those who support purchasing health insurance from any state argue that it will invigorate market competition and drive down premiums. However, a recent study by the New America Foundation showed that:

The primary source of "savings" under [this kind of proposal] is not more competition or more efficient insurers. The savings comes from separating the healthy from the sick.... [It] would lower premiums for the healthiest Americans, but it would raise premiums and reduce coverage options for everyone else.

Indeed, permitting the sale of health insurance across state lines would undermine all existing consumer protections, which are determined state by state. As Families USA revealed, state consumer protections-particularly in the individual health insurance market-vary dramatically from state to state. Some states have made tremendous strides in creating accessible, functional insurance markets for individuals and small businesses. As the New America Foundation points out, Senator McCain's proposal would eliminate the best protections and bring all states down to the lowest common denominator:

[Selling health insurance across state lines] would have the ultimate effect of standardizing state regulation to the least restrictive level, thus de facto de-regulating individual insurance markets. Politically, this allows the de-regulatory preferences of one state to negate the regulatory preferences of the 49 other states, without either a national or state-specific vote.

This proposal has far more insidious implications for consumers than its proponents will admit. Crossing state lines to find a great deal on a limited edition autographed book is one thing. Crossing state lines to find health insurance just crosses the line.
The Dangers of McCain's Plan to Sell Health Insurance Across State Lines | Health and Wellness | AlterNet

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

State of Denial

As Democrats scramble to assemble a health care reform package that a majority of the party can support, Republicans have agreed on what they claim is a quick and easy way to reduce health insurance costs. In delivering the Republican reply to the President’s recent joint-session speech, Charles Boustany of Louisiana offered the GOP plan, saying "Let's also talk about letting families and businesses buy insurance across state lines. I and many other Republicans believe that that will provide real choice and competition to lower the cost of health insurance."

It's an approach conservatives have been talking up for a while. Probably its most vocal proponent is Representative John Shadegg of Arizona, who introduced the idea formally this July with "The Health Care Choice Act of 2009." But a closer examination shows that it's the "Drill baby Drill" of health care reform--a cynical slogan masquerading as a serious public policy solution.

The basis for this approach is the work of the Council for Affordable Health Insurance (CAHI). CAHI describes itself as "a research and advocacy association of insurance carriers"--in other words, the insurance industry. Its position? That state insurance benefit mandates "increase the cost of basic health coverage from a little less than 20% to perhaps 50%". Based on this assumption, Republicans argue: To lower insurance costs dramatically, all you have to do is get rid of or drastically reduce benefit mandates.

Let’s start by looking more closely at what these "health insurance benefit mandates" really are. In our system, states license and regulate insurers who operate in their jurisdictions. They also have right to set the scope of coverage insurers must offer in order to do business within their borders. On occasion, the federal government has intervened to require that all health insurers include such things as coverage of adoptive children, mental health parity benefits, and minimum hospital stays for newborns and mothers in their policies. CAHI includes these federal benefit mandates in its study of "state" mandates--as if consumers could shop their way around them.

Selling insurance across state lines raises one more issue Republicans tend to ignore. Insurance companies keep costs down by using their volume-based bargaining power to make agreements with doctors, hospitals and other healthcare providers to get lower rates than any individual buyer could ever achieve. But insurers operating from one state may have a difficult time, on their own, bargaining in states where they have relatively small market presence. It is unlikely that an insurer could ever get a doctor or hospital in Massachusetts to agree to the same fee schedule that is acceptable in Idaho. Even Medicare, the largest single "player" in the healthcare market, hasn't figured out a way to pay the same reimbursement rate to all health care providers across the country. It would seem like the only way for insurers to offer cheap insurance across states lines would be to offer less comprehensive and effective coverage--which, if this proposal goes through, is exactly what would happen.

 

[uscitizen]

McCains plan to sell health insurance accross state lines is just a massive insurance deregulation execution.
Of course we the consumers will be the beneficiaries though

 

[ba1614]

Wife and I and 3 kids. ALL very healthy and NO health problems. NO prescriptions on anyone.
New health care premium came in today. 16% rise over last year, about normal for the last 15 years. On average the policy has doubled every 6 1/2 years which is average.
This year policy is 12K for 5. 61/2 years from now it will be 24 K and 13 years from now it will be 48K for the same policy.
And you folks love this blank check health care system WE NOW HAVE.
We are fast becoming a nation of village idiots. The current system is UNSUSTAINABLE.

There's no doubt that we need reform, I think most people agree with that. It's the way we do it that nobody can agree on. IMO, the way the obama is going about it sure as fuck isn't the way to reform it.

 

[awhite]

I have sold health insurance for years and you're right. This is a growing problem. The one thing I have noticed is that the premium doesn't just as high if you reapply. Health insurance companies want new customers. Therefore the cost of a new policy is cheaper than the cost of an existing policy one year later. So if you can, try to reapply every two years. All of the insurance companies I sell for make you wait a least a two years to reapply.

 

[WillowTree]

Wife and I and 3 kids. ALL very healthy and NO health problems. NO prescriptions on anyone.
New health care premium came in today. 16% rise over last year, about normal for the last 15 years. On average the policy has doubled every 6 1/2 years which is average.
This year policy is 12K for 5. 61/2 years from now it will be 24 K and 13 years from now it will be 48K for the same policy.
And you folks love this blank check health care system WE NOW HAVE.
We are fast becoming a nation of village idiots. The current system is UNSUSTAINABLE.

call your congressman/woman


Text of H.R.984 as Introduced in House: Health Care Waiver Fairness Act of 2011 - U.S. Congress - OpenCongress

 

[Patrick2]

Wife and I and 3 kids. ALL very healthy and NO health problems. NO prescriptions on anyone.
New health care premium came in today. 16% rise over last year, about normal for the last 15 years. On average the policy has doubled every 6 1/2 years which is average.
This year policy is 12K for 5. 61/2 years from now it will be 24 K and 13 years from now it will be 48K for the same policy.
And you folks love this blank check health care system WE NOW HAVE.
We are fast becoming a nation of village idiots. The current system is UNSUSTAINABLE.

I pay a similar amount every year, as a self-employed person. OF COURSE something has to change, but it requires an intelligently worked out solution, not the the crude stupid non-solution of rationing under obamacare.

 

[Gadawg73]

Ending group health care insurance where the employer, a non third party, pays the premium.
Those policies are subsidized by everyone else in the system as the competition is fierce to get the large 500+ employee companies to sign up.
Car insurance does not pay for oil changes, tires and maintenance.
Same with home owners.
Same WITH ALL OTHER INSURANCE.
Go back to everyone has their own policy. If your employer wants to pay for that policy as a benefit then ok.
Third party system we have now where the consumer is not the one paying or negotiating the bill is a failure.

 

[Patrick2]

Ending group health care insurance where the employer, a non third party, pays the premium.
Those policies are subsidized by everyone else in the system as the competition is fierce to get the large 500+ employee companies to sign up.
Car insurance does not pay for oil changes, tires and maintenance.
Same with home owners.
Same WITH ALL OTHER INSURANCE.
Go back to everyone has their own policy. If your employer wants to pay for that policy as a benefit then ok.
Third party system we have now where the consumer is not the one paying or negotiating the bill is a failure.

You sort of get it, but not quite. Employer insurance should be in every case illegalized. Employers get a tax break on it as a cost of doing business, yet the employee gets the full amount. So employers can enhance the total amount of compensation to an employee, without, in effect, paying the full premium - that's why they like it. But then, as you seem to grasp, the employee has little incentive to not overuse the system.

 

[auditor0007]

Wife and I and 3 kids. ALL very healthy and NO health problems. NO prescriptions on anyone.
New health care premium came in today. 16% rise over last year, about normal for the last 15 years. On average the policy has doubled every 6 1/2 years which is average.
This year policy is 12K for 5. 61/2 years from now it will be 24 K and 13 years from now it will be 48K for the same policy.
And you folks love this blank check health care system WE NOW HAVE.
We are fast becoming a nation of village idiots. The current system is UNSUSTAINABLE.

Those numbers seem to be accurate to me based on what I have paid in the past and am paying currently. The fact is that premiums started increasing dramatically long before "Obamacare". I am happy with the new healthcare legislation for the simple fact that it has allowed me to buy insurance again, which I was denied after moving to another state due to pre-existing conditions. I had insurance but couldn't keep it when I moved, so they denied me. I'm self-employed also, so HIPAA rules did not apply to me.

The problem with Obamacare is that it won't change anything. Premiums will continue to increase at double digit rates. If we want to get serious about reducing costs, then we need to create more competition among providers. Creating more competition among insurance companies won't change anything because they are just the middle man. Paying directly for basic care would be a good starting point. The problem is that even under HSA plans, everything goes through the insurance company, so there still is no way to create competition among providers. Secondly, not every doctor wants to be a brain surgeon, so educational costs should somehow be based on what type of doctor a person may want to be. Also, many duties that are handled by doctors could be handled by nurse practitioners at a much lower cost. In most cases, nurse practitioners have as much knowledge as the doctors themselves, but they have limited authority as to what they can do. We should consider giving them more. Nurse practitioners could run most family doctors offices without the need for an actual doctor. In cases that are beyond them, they could simply refer the patient to a specialist.

Those are just a couple of ideas, and they might be workable and they might not. The point is that in order to really reduce costs, we need to change the way medical care is provided, but before we can do that, we need to actually have doctors and hospitals wanting to make those types of changes.

 

[auditor0007]

Ending group health care insurance where the employer, a non third party, pays the premium.
Those policies are subsidized by everyone else in the system as the competition is fierce to get the large 500+ employee companies to sign up.
Car insurance does not pay for oil changes, tires and maintenance.
Same with home owners.
Same WITH ALL OTHER INSURANCE.
Go back to everyone has their own policy. If your employer wants to pay for that policy as a benefit then ok.
Third party system we have now where the consumer is not the one paying or negotiating the bill is a failure.

I have to agree with this. Employer based insurance has caused many of our problems. And this is what really doesn't make sense. Someone who is high risk can get insurance through a large employer at a discounted rate. Yet an individual who is healthy will pay a higher rate. And if that individual has any pre-existing conditions, they can't get jack shit. Instead of having employer pools, there should just be one pool, everyone. But here is where we run into a problem; how do you make certain that everyone pays into the pool and that people don't just wait until they become sick to seek out insurance. Unless they pay from day one, they become a liability and it increases everyone else's rates. That is the reason that many support mandates.

 

[Article 15]

bump

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Wife and I and 3 kids. ALL very healthy and NO health problems. NO prescriptions on anyone.
New health care premium came in today. 16% rise over last year, about normal for the last 15 years. On average the policy has doubled every 6 1/2 years which is average.
This year policy is 12K for 5. 61/2 years from now it will be 24 K and 13 years from now it will be 48K for the same policy.
And you folks love this blank check health care system WE NOW HAVE.
We are fast becoming a nation of village idiots. The current system is UNSUSTAINABLE.

Why do people who are intelligent enough to see something does not work think that making it mandatory is going to fix anything?

 

[Gadawg73]

Wife and I and 3 kids. ALL very healthy and NO health problems. NO prescriptions on anyone.
New health care premium came in today. 16% rise over last year, about normal for the last 15 years. On average the policy has doubled every 6 1/2 years which is average.
This year policy is 12K for 5. 61/2 years from now it will be 24 K and 13 years from now it will be 48K for the same policy.
And you folks love this blank check health care system WE NOW HAVE.
We are fast becoming a nation of village idiots. The current system is UNSUSTAINABLE.

Why do people who are intelligent enough to see something does not work think that making it mandatory is going to fix anything?

I oppose it being mandatory.

 

[Moonglow]

I have the VA, I pay an eight dollar copay.

 

[MeBelle]

Wife and I and 3 kids. ALL very healthy and NO health problems. NO prescriptions on anyone.
New health care premium came in today. 16% rise over last year, about normal for the last 15 years. On average the policy has doubled every 6 1/2 years which is average.
This year policy is 12K for 5. 61/2 years from now it will be 24 K and 13 years from now it will be 48K for the same policy.
And you folks love this blank check health care system WE NOW HAVE.
We are fast becoming a nation of village idiots. The current system is UNSUSTAINABLE.

Why do people who are intelligent enough to see something does not work think that making it mandatory is going to fix anything?

You used the word intelligent! I don't think that applies in this case.

 

[Gadawg73]

I have the VA, I pay an eight dollar copay.

My brother also has that and that is good but everyone that has someone else paying their health care for them does not have the same grasp of what the current unsustainable system we have is doing to the budget.