In shock after seeing new rates.

[mdblb05]

I work for a small family owned business with <20 employees that pays a portion of my health insurance. The rates will be going from 400.00 to 1100.00 per month for 2 adults <35 yrs and 2 kids <5 yrs with 5000.00 deductible. This is with no major changes in coverage/deductible and same company. How can this be right? Are these insurance companies getting squeezed so hard that they have to raise small business group rates to help cover losses in other areas? Or did they just decide to catch up on price increases by going up over 250% in one year? This is absolutely nuts. Am I being forced into heading over to healthcare.gov? This is the most drastic financial change to our household in a long time and we seem to have no choice.

Try other companies. Try healthcare.gov.

Yes, you have a choice.

Will reluctantly be checking out healthcare.gov come open enrollment. Though, I dont understand why it would be any less expensive than getting the policy at any agent since rates are controlled and I wont qualify for any subsidies. We make just a little bit over the cutoff which is 90 or 95k?

 

[toxicmedia]

I work for a medical insurance company, and in California, the Dept of Insurance would never approve of such an increase, and they MUST approve before they sign off it.

What state do you live in that's letting insurers get away with that kind of increase?

I wonder if your employer is being honest with you, or you're being honest with us.

Live in Va. I am being honest. Im new to the forum and dont have time just to troll around here for giggles. I dont feel like I need to but suppose I could post a scan of the rates, though it wouldnt prove anything to someone who already thinks im lying. Actually didnt think people would find it that hard to believe. I was thinking the majority would be in the same boat as me. Shows how out of touch I am with all this. I took the time to post like I do on any topic on any forum, to see if anyone else has had my experience, and what they have done to help improve it. The insurance is actually through my wifes work as I am self employed. It is her parents business. She is the book keeper and payroll person so she is the first one that sees stuff like this come in the mail. I guess the way they get around the increase is they cancel the existing plan. The plan that they offered is no longer available as of dec1. So the rate technically didnt go up I suppose. The plan just went away. The two new options the insurer sent were both 200-250% higher with same deductible and some basic coverage, although I did not read through to see if they added coverage for specific things. Our old policy covered all our needs. Had a nice high deductible which is cool with me and we had a health savings which we put enough in to cover all our yearly needs. It even had enough saved in it to completely pay for our costs to have a new baby delivered.

Since you're new, you'll be noticing soon how many people just make stuff up. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you're being honest.

There is also a lot of misinformation out there, plus everything that happens in the medical insurance industry that causes rate increases isn't always because of Obamacare. I however, may actually lose my current job because of the changes Obamacare is having on how we do business. Obamacare was not designed to improve the bottom line for insurers.

Let me give you one really good example of misinformation. In the exchange HMOs offered, called "Community Care", some states have created walk in clinics where it's hard to find doctors willing to contract with Obamacare HMOs. Obamacare opponents took that, and put it out there without explanation. This caused my room mate to think Obamacare is driving people back to our overcrowded county free clinics.

For your situation, it's kind of unique. I know what I tell people who call in about price increases, but I've never heard of anything that steep. Giving you the benefit of the doubt...usually when a sales agent for an insurer would shift an employer to two options that are priced too high, it's because that employer has billing troubles. Or, all other comparable plans in that market have gone up as much.

I'm sure I don't have to offer the suggestion they take a look at the exchange plans, that include subsidies, and pay for those individual plans, or just plain shop around with different insurers or brokers.

Hope it works out for you...and one thing to keep in mind...you said you're going from something like $400? to $1100?.....by 2016, the fine for not having coverage through someone will be $695 per person/year, and around $250 per dependent/year.

 

[toxicmedia]

I work for a small family owned business with <20 employees that pays a portion of my health insurance. The rates will be going from 400.00 to 1100.00 per month for 2 adults <35 yrs and 2 kids <5 yrs with 5000.00 deductible. This is with no major changes in coverage/deductible and same company. How can this be right? Are these insurance companies getting squeezed so hard that they have to raise small business group rates to help cover losses in other areas? Or did they just decide to catch up on price increases by going up over 250% in one year? This is absolutely nuts. Am I being forced into heading over to healthcare.gov? This is the most drastic financial change to our household in a long time and we seem to have no choice.

Try other companies. Try healthcare.gov.

Yes, you have a choice.

Will reluctantly be checking out healthcare.gov come open enrollment. Though, I dont understand why it would be any less expensive than getting the policy at any agent since rates are controlled and I wont qualify for any subsidies. We make just a little bit over the cutoff which is 90 or 95k?

It just hit me.......you must be talking about PPO plans...right?

 

[Roadrunner]

Like I said...I work for an insurance company, and as far as Obamacare increases, they are not allowed to increase the premiums for those plans unless a "life event" occurs, or they change plans. When you change plans, the exchange re-rates you based on being one year older. Rates go up if your older.

We're talking less than 10% for an extra year on you. Premiums go up based on your income, where you live, and how old you are.....THATS IT

My BS detector has been going off all through this thread.

Insurance fees should not be linked to your income.

That is not insurance, that is taxation.

 

[toxicmedia]

You're new so I'll repeat what I've written before -

My own rates went down, I have received two refunds, scrips when down and I still have the same excellent coverage and doctors I had before.

At a recent party, the conversation turned to ACA and not one person was unhappy.

I don't believe most of the stuff I read here from the RW Obama haters but yes, of course, you should shop for the best coverage for your money.

Whose your carrier give me their contact information so I can get the same policy you have.
If you don't it means you are a lying sack of shit.

Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Whose your agent and the office number
Blue Cross: Rates will rise under new federal health care law
Local North Carolina state news from Raleigh NC NewsObserver.com

You need to read the articles you post.

The rate increases are for off exchange plans, nor on exchange plans, and they went up because insurers are forced to cover essential benefits of the ACA.

 

[Moonglow]

When I was self employed for a family of three with a 2k deductible my health insurance ran 350 bucks a week...

 

[toxicmedia]

Like I said...I work for an insurance company, and as far as Obamacare increases, they are not allowed to increase the premiums for those plans unless a "life event" occurs, or they change plans. When you change plans, the exchange re-rates you based on being one year older. Rates go up if your older.

We're talking less than 10% for an extra year on you. Premiums go up based on your income, where you live, and how old you are.....THATS IT

My BS detector has been going off all through this thread.

Insurance fees should not be linked to your income.

That is not insurance, that is taxation.

Insurance rates are not linked to your income. The subsidies the government offer vary by your income, and that's quite reasonable.

If you make 90K year, you'll save very little if anything. If you have a family of 4 and make 30K year, you'll pay nearly nothing.

The other day I processed an annual premium for a member and it worked out to .86 cents month with subsidies.

 

[toxicmedia]

When I was self employed for a family of three with a 2k deductible my health insurance ran 350 bucks a week...

That trend has been in motion since the 90's.

What's happening is that every rate increase and benefit reduction, that would definitely have happened if Obamcare never was, are being blamed on Obamacare like none of it would have ever happened.

 

[mdblb05]

$400? to $1100?.

I work for a medical insurance company, and in California, the Dept of Insurance would never approve of such an increase, and they MUST approve before they sign off it.

What state do you live in that's letting insurers get away with that kind of increase?

I wonder if your employer is being honest with you, or you're being honest with us.

Live in Va. I am being honest. Im new to the forum and dont have time just to troll around here for giggles. I dont feel like I need to but suppose I could post a scan of the rates, though it wouldnt prove anything to someone who already thinks im lying. Actually didnt think people would find it that hard to believe. I was thinking the majority would be in the same boat as me. Shows how out of touch I am with all this. I took the time to post like I do on any topic on any forum, to see if anyone else has had my experience, and what they have done to help improve it. The insurance is actually through my wifes work as I am self employed. It is her parents business. She is the book keeper and payroll person so she is the first one that sees stuff like this come in the mail. I guess the way they get around the increase is they cancel the existing plan. The plan that they offered is no longer available as of dec1. So the rate technically didnt go up I suppose. The plan just went away. The two new options the insurer sent were both 200-250% higher with same deductible and some basic coverage, although I did not read through to see if they added coverage for specific things. Our old policy covered all our needs. Had a nice high deductible which is cool with me and we had a health savings which we put enough in to cover all our yearly needs. It even had enough saved in it to completely pay for our costs to have a new baby delivered.

Since you're new, you'll be noticing soon how many people just make stuff up. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you're being honest.

There is also a lot of misinformation out there, plus everything that happens in the medical insurance industry that causes rate increases isn't always because of Obamacare. I however, may actually lose my current job because of the changes Obamacare is having on how we do business. Obamacare was not designed to improve the bottom line for insurers.

Let me give you one really good example of misinformation. In the exchange HMOs offered, called "Community Care", some states have created walk in clinics where it's hard to find doctors willing to contract with Obamacare HMOs. Obamacare opponents took that, and put it out there without explanation. This caused my room mate to think Obamacare is driving people back to our overcrowded county free clinics.

For your situation, it's kind of unique. I know what I tell people who call in about price increases, but I've never heard of anything that steep. Giving you the benefit of the doubt...usually when a sales agent for an insurer would shift an employer to two options that are priced too high, it's because that employer has billing troubles. Or, all other comparable plans in that market have gone up as much.

I'm sure I don't have to offer the suggestion they take a look at the exchange plans, that include subsidies, and pay for those individual plans, or just plain shop around with different insurers or brokers.

Hope it works out for you...and one thing to keep in mind...you said you're going from something like $400? to $1100?.....by 2016, the fine for not having coverage through someone will be $695 per person/year, and around $250 per dependent/year.

Thanks for the constructive post. Yes, it is a PPO/HSA plan with Optima. Is that good or bad? Are all insurers getting rid of family plan for under 4 kids?

 

[Roadrunner]

When I was self employed for a family of three with a 2k deductible my health insurance ran 350 bucks a week...

When I was in a pool of college educated professionals, my deductible was $300, and I paid $139 a month.

Now I pay Medicare $105 a month, my secondary is $90 and due to rise, and my deductible is $1,000.

Now, that sucks.

 

[Roadrunner]

Like I said...I work for an insurance company, and as far as Obamacare increases, they are not allowed to increase the premiums for those plans unless a "life event" occurs, or they change plans. When you change plans, the exchange re-rates you based on being one year older. Rates go up if your older.

We're talking less than 10% for an extra year on you. Premiums go up based on your income, where you live, and how old you are.....THATS IT

My BS detector has been going off all through this thread.

Insurance fees should not be linked to your income.

That is not insurance, that is taxation.

Insurance rates are not linked to your income. The subsidies the government offer vary by your income, and that's quite reasonable.

If you make 90K year, you'll save very little if anything. If you have a family of 4 and make 30K year, you'll pay nearly nothing.

The other day I processed an annual premium for a member and it worked out to .86 cents month with subsidies.

I guess those of us that got rate increase paid for that member's insurance.

 

[toxicmedia]

$400? to $1100?.

I work for a medical insurance company, and in California, the Dept of Insurance would never approve of such an increase, and they MUST approve before they sign off it.

What state do you live in that's letting insurers get away with that kind of increase?

I wonder if your employer is being honest with you, or you're being honest with us.

Live in Va. I am being honest. Im new to the forum and dont have time just to troll around here for giggles. I dont feel like I need to but suppose I could post a scan of the rates, though it wouldnt prove anything to someone who already thinks im lying. Actually didnt think people would find it that hard to believe. I was thinking the majority would be in the same boat as me. Shows how out of touch I am with all this. I took the time to post like I do on any topic on any forum, to see if anyone else has had my experience, and what they have done to help improve it. The insurance is actually through my wifes work as I am self employed. It is her parents business. She is the book keeper and payroll person so she is the first one that sees stuff like this come in the mail. I guess the way they get around the increase is they cancel the existing plan. The plan that they offered is no longer available as of dec1. So the rate technically didnt go up I suppose. The plan just went away. The two new options the insurer sent were both 200-250% higher with same deductible and some basic coverage, although I did not read through to see if they added coverage for specific things. Our old policy covered all our needs. Had a nice high deductible which is cool with me and we had a health savings which we put enough in to cover all our yearly needs. It even had enough saved in it to completely pay for our costs to have a new baby delivered.

Since you're new, you'll be noticing soon how many people just make stuff up. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you're being honest.

There is also a lot of misinformation out there, plus everything that happens in the medical insurance industry that causes rate increases isn't always because of Obamacare. I however, may actually lose my current job because of the changes Obamacare is having on how we do business. Obamacare was not designed to improve the bottom line for insurers.

Let me give you one really good example of misinformation. In the exchange HMOs offered, called "Community Care", some states have created walk in clinics where it's hard to find doctors willing to contract with Obamacare HMOs. Obamacare opponents took that, and put it out there without explanation. This caused my room mate to think Obamacare is driving people back to our overcrowded county free clinics.

For your situation, it's kind of unique. I know what I tell people who call in about price increases, but I've never heard of anything that steep. Giving you the benefit of the doubt...usually when a sales agent for an insurer would shift an employer to two options that are priced too high, it's because that employer has billing troubles. Or, all other comparable plans in that market have gone up as much.

I'm sure I don't have to offer the suggestion they take a look at the exchange plans, that include subsidies, and pay for those individual plans, or just plain shop around with different insurers or brokers.

Hope it works out for you...and one thing to keep in mind...you said you're going from something like $400? to $1100?.....by 2016, the fine for not having coverage through someone will be $695 per person/year, and around $250 per dependent/year.

Thanks for the constructive post. Yes, it is a PPO/HSA plan with Optima. Is that good or bad? Are all insurers getting rid of family plan for under 4 kids?

You pay more and more for PPOs every year, because they allow you access to much better doctor networks than HMOs by far. There is a lot more to it like "fee for service" vs capitation and reimbursement contracts, but that's a lot to go over.

That's simple...if you don't see the doctor much, and don't mind waiting a long time for appointments, and don't mind driving farther to see the doctor, an HMO would be much cheaper in terms of out of pocket expenses. If seeing a certain doctor is important than you'll have to pay for that flexibility.

 

[toxicmedia]

Like I said...I work for an insurance company, and as far as Obamacare increases, they are not allowed to increase the premiums for those plans unless a "life event" occurs, or they change plans. When you change plans, the exchange re-rates you based on being one year older. Rates go up if your older.

We're talking less than 10% for an extra year on you. Premiums go up based on your income, where you live, and how old you are.....THATS IT

My BS detector has been going off all through this thread.

Insurance fees should not be linked to your income.

That is not insurance, that is taxation.

Insurance rates are not linked to your income. The subsidies the government offer vary by your income, and that's quite reasonable.

If you make 90K year, you'll save very little if anything. If you have a family of 4 and make 30K year, you'll pay nearly nothing.

The other day I processed an annual premium for a member and it worked out to .86 cents month with subsidies.

I guess those of us that got rate increase paid for that member's insurance.

Actually, you're paying more mostly because insurance rates and benefit reductions have been getting worse every year since 1985.

You and I pay for those subsidies with our tax dollars, so at the end of the day...since healthcare costs increase so much every year, we're all going to be paying more for the time being...be it the doctor, taxes, insurance premiums, or all of the above. The only thing that will stop that is a government payor system, and even then, we'll all just be paying for it with taxes.

If something costs a lot, they'll get it out of everybody somehow

 

[bigrebnc1775]

You're new so I'll repeat what I've written before -

My own rates went down, I have received two refunds, scrips when down and I still have the same excellent coverage and doctors I had before.

At a recent party, the conversation turned to ACA and not one person was unhappy.

I don't believe most of the stuff I read here from the RW Obama haters but yes, of course, you should shop for the best coverage for your money.

Whose your carrier give me their contact information so I can get the same policy you have.
If you don't it means you are a lying sack of shit.

Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Whose your agent and the office number
Blue Cross: Rates will rise under new federal health care law
Local North Carolina state news from Raleigh NC NewsObserver.com

You need to read the articles you post.

The rate increases are for off exchange plans, nor on exchange plans, and they went up because insurers are forced to cover essential benefits of the ACA.

rate increases due to Obamacare. You idiot

 

[mdblb05]

You're new so I'll repeat what I've written before -

My own rates went down, I have received two refunds, scrips when down and I still have the same excellent coverage and doctors I had before.

At a recent party, the conversation turned to ACA and not one person was unhappy.

I don't believe most of the stuff I read here from the RW Obama haters but yes, of course, you should shop for the best coverage for your money.

Whose your carrier give me their contact information so I can get the same policy you have.
If you don't it means you are a lying sack of shit.

Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Whose your agent and the office number
Blue Cross: Rates will rise under new federal health care law
Local North Carolina state news from Raleigh NC NewsObserver.com

You need to read the articles you post.

The rate increases are for off exchange plans, nor on exchange plans, and they went up because insurers are forced to cover essential benefits of the ACA.

rate increases due to Obamacare. You idiot

This appears to be correct. The letter from the insurer actually states that the plan is no longer being offered due to requirements set by the affordable care act. So the insurer is lying, or my cost of insurance is actually going up due to requirements set by the affordable care act. Thing is, I was happy with my insurance. Optima and I had a nice thing going, why cant I keep it that way?

 

[Ava]

You're new so I'll repeat what I've written before -

My own rates went down, I have received two refunds, scrips when down and I still have the same excellent coverage and doctors I had before.

At a recent party, the conversation turned to ACA and not one person was unhappy.

I don't believe most of the stuff I read here from the RW Obama haters but yes, of course, you should shop for the best coverage for your money.

Whose your carrier give me their contact information so I can get the same policy you have.
If you don't it means you are a lying sack of shit.

Barack Obama is again playing political games with our health insurance industry and has turned in another underhanded move against it by forcing insurance carriers, brokers and agents to withhold their 2015 prices until after the 2014 midterm elections are over all so that the news of higher prices won’t hurt Democrats on Election Day.

This means that customers looking to get new insurance or those wishing to scout new policies to see if they can get a better deal are not able to shop for insurance.

Before we get into that, though, millions of new cancellations will be hitting on January 1, 2015. Much of this news has gone under the radar as Democrats and their lapdog media are keeping this as quiet as possible.

There is also something different with these cancellations, something that has never happened before in the healthcare insurance industry.---------[much more]

UNPRECEDENTED Obama Forces Insurance Industry to Withhold 2015 Prices Until After Election The Gateway Pundit

 

[HenryBHough]

You're new so I'll repeat what I've written before -

My own rates went down, I have received two refunds, scrips when down and I still have the same excellent coverage and doctors I had before.

At a recent party, the conversation turned to ACA and not one person was unhappy.

I don't believe most of the stuff I read here from the RW Obama haters but yes, of course, you should shop for the best coverage for your money.

Whose your carrier give me their contact information so I can get the same policy you have.
If you don't it means you are a lying sack of shit.

To reiterate:

This ass-clown refuses to tell us the name of the insurance company (other than a vague reference to Blue Cross/Blue Shield) and the state in which it is offering those bargain rates.

Along with that claims I have asked for personal information when the name of an insurance company and/or a state is hardly personal.

So, not just a bullshitter, a liar of epic proportion.

In short, a worthy liberal Democrat.

 

[toxicmedia]

You're new so I'll repeat what I've written before -

My own rates went down, I have received two refunds, scrips when down and I still have the same excellent coverage and doctors I had before.

At a recent party, the conversation turned to ACA and not one person was unhappy.

I don't believe most of the stuff I read here from the RW Obama haters but yes, of course, you should shop for the best coverage for your money.

Whose your carrier give me their contact information so I can get the same policy you have.
If you don't it means you are a lying sack of shit.

Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Whose your agent and the office number
Blue Cross: Rates will rise under new federal health care law
Local North Carolina state news from Raleigh NC NewsObserver.com

You need to read the articles you post.

The rate increases are for off exchange plans, nor on exchange plans, and they went up because insurers are forced to cover essential benefits of the ACA.

rate increases due to Obamacare. You idiot

I'm pretty sure you don't even know what essential benefits, and off exchange VS on exchange means.

Scat!...go google youself out of idiocy

 

[toxicmedia]

Whose your carrier give me their contact information so I can get the same policy you have.
If you don't it means you are a lying sack of shit.

Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Whose your agent and the office number
Blue Cross: Rates will rise under new federal health care law
Local North Carolina state news from Raleigh NC NewsObserver.com

You need to read the articles you post.

The rate increases are for off exchange plans, nor on exchange plans, and they went up because insurers are forced to cover essential benefits of the ACA.

rate increases due to Obamacare. You idiot

This appears to be correct. The letter from the insurer actually states that the plan is no longer being offered due to requirements set by the affordable care act. So the insurer is lying, or my cost of insurance is actually going up due to requirements set by the affordable care act. Thing is, I was happy with my insurance. Optima and I had a nice thing going, why cant I keep it that way?

Oh God, I just noticed the word "due" to.....Big reb was right about something for once......the end is nigh.....

 

[Luddly Neddite]

You're new so I'll repeat what I've written before -

My own rates went down, I have received two refunds, scrips when down and I still have the same excellent coverage and doctors I had before.

At a recent party, the conversation turned to ACA and not one person was unhappy.

I don't believe most of the stuff I read here from the RW Obama haters but yes, of course, you should shop for the best coverage for your money.

Whose your carrier give me their contact information so I can get the same policy you have.
If you don't it means you are a lying sack of shit.

To reiterate:

This ass-clown refuses to tell us the name of the insurance company (other than a vague reference to Blue Cross/Blue Shield) and the state in which it is offering those bargain rates.

Along with that claims I have asked for personal information when the name of an insurance company and/or a state is hardly personal.

So, not just a bullshitter, a liar of epic proportion.

In short, a worthy liberal Democrat.

HenryBHough

Quote the exact link where I wrote " offering those bargain rates".

In fact, it is YOU who is lying.