Company health insurance is going up 12 %

[Aelwydd]

between Medicaid and private insurance. If you're below poverty, you probably qualify for Medicaid. If your earning too much to qualify for Medicaid then you probably qualify for SCHIP.

 

Allow me to introduce you to Texas, which already pays one of the lowest Medicare reimbursement rates in the country (some as low as $13/physician visit).

 

When my dh got laid off, and I was working a temporary job (before the one I'm at now), I was only making $16/hour, and my dh and I were both denied everything except food stamps. We didn't even receive unemployment for dh. We barely made the income cut-off for SCHIP (if I'd made 50 cents more, my asthmatic son would have been denied coverage). Both my dh and I were also denied coverage for a public health care program funded through the county.

 

Please remember that your assumptions like "probably qualify" do not admit the reality huge numbers of us have faced, having lost jobs, and having no recourse for procuring health insurance.

[Momof3littles]

DH works for a small business and our family would be 10-11K to add on to his policy. We buy our own private higher deductible plan insurance, and his co. kicks back some of what they would have paid for DH's insurance.

 

We make too much money for CHIP or medicaid, but we are not wealthy. If we were paying to be on DH's work plan, we would be spending 10 percent of pre-tax salary on health insurance, and an even greater percentage after taxes.

 

Coverage has been dropping and rates have been increasing as a pattern long before Obamacare came about. Of course, I'm politically liberal and would prefer to see a single payer system, and previously worked in healthcare prior to becoming a SAHM.

 

eta: Aging population, issues with end of life care, lack of evidence-based care, overuse of medical tests by physicians practicing defensive medicine, issues with employers no longer wanting to cover (previously negotiated) retiree benefits, etc. all make this more complex.

Edited April 17, 2012 by Momof3littles

[Butter]

That is exactly the problem with Obamacare too. All things are available to anyone...if they can afford it. Most families cannot, unless they are in the upper 10% income-wise. And I'm sorry and hope he finds a job soon, if he has not yet.

 

I think that's the biggest problem I have with Obamacare. The individual mandate part requires everyone to have insurance. What if you can't afford it? Sure, it sounds nice to say everyone will be able to be insured, but is that going to be the reality? I have a friend in MA where people are required to have insurance or pay a fine. Her husband lost his job. They *could not* afford to pay COBRA or find insurance elsewhere. The kids were able to immediately go on the state insurance, but the parents could not. She was living in fear that they'd get slapped with a fine for not having insurance before he found a new job with benefits. (ETA: Note that she was NOT living in fear of not having insurance... that actually didn't bother her in the least. It was that she'd have to pay a fine for not having insurance while they couldn't afford to pay for it... or a fine for not having it.) Is that how it'll be for the whole country? I don't know for sure, but it's certainly a big possibility. If you can't afford it you can't afford it even if the government says you have to have it.

 

Yeah. Nice. There's insurance for you, in a nutshell (except for Congress and a lucky few. It should be absolutely mandatory for the President and Congress to take whatever insurance they vote in for others, but it isn't!).

 

I've seen that misconception before. Congress chooses insurance plans from the *exact same* set of options my husband does and every other federal government employee. There are some variations based on agency in what exactly is offered, but for the most part it's the same plans (and at the same costs!). The idea behind the AHCA is that *everyone* would be able to buy into those sorts of plans. At least for a while they were saying it would be the same plans offered federal employees (including Congress). Of course while everyone would be able to buy into those plans, there wouldn't necessarily be the employer contribution so my (very cheap high deductible) $150/month plan would become a $600/month plan for someone who is buying in themselves. That goes back to the issue of if you can't afford it you can't afford it even if they say you have to buy it.

 

The President, while president, is an entirely different entity when it comes to healthcare. You can't really compared him to the rest of the country. He has a doctor available 24/7 and gets lots of tests and check-ups. And I would imagine that is free (to him - I have no clue what a president's family's health insurance coverage is like or how it's provided). I can't say I disagree with that set up.

Edited April 17, 2012 by Butter

[Momof3littles]

I think that's the biggest problem I have with Obamacare. The individual mandate part requires everyone to have insurance. What if you can't afford it? Sure, it sounds nice to say everyone will be able to be insured, but is that going to be the reality? I have a friend in MA where people are required to have insurance or pay a fine. Her husband lost his job. They *could not* afford to pay COBRA or find insurance elsewhere. The kids were able to immediately go on the state insurance, but the parents could not. She was living in fear that they'd get slapped with a fine for not having insurance before he found a new job with benefits. (ETA: Note that she was NOT living in fear of not having insurance... that actually didn't bother her in the least. It was that she'd have to pay a fine for not having insurance while they couldn't afford to pay for it... or a fine for not having it.) Is that how it'll be for the whole country? I don't know for sure, but it's certainly a big possibility. If you can't afford it you can't afford it even if the government says you have to have it.

The fine is a few hundred, which is not insignificant. $695 or 2.5% of income, whichever is higher. The mandate is there to spread the risk across a wide pool, preventing people from waiting to "buy in" until they are already sick, for example.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/could-the-health-care-law-work-without-the-individual-mandate/2012/03/27/gIQAFqp9eS_story.html

[Bluegoat]

I find the American healthcare system so bizarre. Not only expensive, but what a headache! People always seem to be having trouble with what the insurance is supposed to pay for, or figuring out who their "in network" providers are, or angry because something they want, like a midwife, isn't covered, and there is absolutely no way they can advocate for it to be covered.

 

As far as I can see, the only one it benefits is the insurance companies who continue to have a purpose in life. But what I wonder is, why haven't American businesses lobbied for a real health care system? It seems like it must be a huge burden on them to have to be responsible for it in this way?

[mommymilkies]

There are a heck of a lot of people out there who would have died without the reform because insurance companies didn't have to take them, or could drop their coverage the second they got sick. I'm guessing all those parents whose children didn't have to die from cancer after all have quite a different view of it.

 

:iagree: My dh works at a public college and our insurance would be over 60% of our income (over $1600 a month and it goes up every year) if we took it. Luckily we live in a state with a good medicaid program. We could not live and afford insurance. And that doesn't count a high deductible, high co-pays, and a lot they do not cover.

[justamouse]

I find the American healthcare system so bizarre. Not only expensive, but what a headache! People always seem to be having trouble with what the insurance is supposed to pay for, or figuring out who their "in network" providers are, or angry because something they want, like a midwife, isn't covered, and there is absolutely no way they can advocate for it to be covered.

 

As far as I can see, the only one it benefits is the insurance companies who continue to have a purpose in life. But what I wonder is, why haven't American businesses lobbied for a real health care system? It seems like it must be a huge burden on them to have to be responsible for it in this way?

 

Ugh. The whole thing sickens me.

 

Between healthcare and pharma, they throw sickening millions at the government to get their way (in lobby and campaign).

 

And they make sickening amounts of $. Now, I'm all for making $, but to me, they're effectively raping the citizens and the government just wrote it into law.

 

Instate contributions in 2010 were at 42 million.

 

We pay the highest price and receive the lowest quality for the $.

 

None of that is going to change. None of it.

 

We can lobby, but they have more $ and offices are held by people who kowtow to it.

 

And it's not like the doctors are getting rich.

[QueenCat]

I've seen that misconception before. Congress chooses insurance plans from the *exact same* set of options my husband does and every other federal government employee. There are some variations based on agency in what exactly is offered, but for the most part it's the same plans (and at the same costs!). The idea behind the AHCA is that *everyone* would be able to buy into those sorts of plans. At least for a while they were saying it would be the same plans offered federal employees (including Congress).

 

 

Thank you for pointing this out. It's a popular misconception, perpetuated by crazy emails that circulate, giving out false or misleading information. Drives me nuts!

[Shellers]

Last year I was paying $1,200 a month for health insurance, this year I'm paying just under $1,400 a month. :confused:

[*Michelle*]

The fine is a few hundred, which is not insignificant. $695 or 2.5% of income, whichever is higher. The mandate is there to spread the risk across a wide pool, preventing people from waiting to "buy in" until they are already sick, for example.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/could-the-health-care-law-work-without-the-individual-mandate/2012/03/27/gIQAFqp9eS_story.html

 

That's the individual penalty. For a family, it can be up to $2085.

 

http://www.smc.org/node/499

[EKS]

Yes, and people don't want single payer healthcare.

[EKS]

Yup. The insurance companies are dealing with the various steps of Obamacare.

 

This has NOTHING to do with Obama's health care plan. It's been this way for YEARS. Ten years ago our health insurance premiums went up 30% per year for several years. We kept having to reduce coverage and reduce coverage to afford it. Thank goodness my husband got a job with excellent health insurance. I dread going back to individual insurance.

 

Frankly, I don't like Obamacare either. I think it doesn't go far enough.

Edited April 17, 2012 by EKS

[KungFuPanda]

The first change that effected us was that when my husband changed jobs we no longer had to wait a full year before my disabled son was covered. A year is forever with the type of expenses we rack up. Pediatric neurologists at Children's in D.C. are NOT affordable for ANYONE. Before they changes, only healthy people were covered right away . . . because THAT makes sense. :glare:

 

I'm still fighting to get insurance to cover the wheels for my son's new wheelchair. Basically, they just approved a chair. I'm serious.

[Momof3littles]

Frankly, I don't like Obamacare either. I think it doesn't go far enough.

:iagree:

Edited April 17, 2012 by Momof3littles

[Brilliant]

But families WILL still be declaring bankruptcy because many cannot pay 10,000-20,000 out of pocket, even if insurance kicks in after.

 

Or they might not even be able to get care. When I had surgery last year (non-emergency, if you don't consider cancer an emergency), the hospital verified my benefits and collected $ for both my remaining unmet deductible and expected co-pay. Luckily my deductible was only $1500, I think - the co-pay amount was higher! What if I hadn't had the money up front to give them several thousand dollars? I didn't ask, just gave them a credit card number! If a previously insured family's deductible & copay amounts go up, care might be out of their reach when it wasn't before.

[joannqn]

We do not carry insurance, dh is a contractor. We are not about to pay $12000 a year in premiums and then have to cover $10000 for the deductible. We would rather pay out of pocket. We are willing to take the risk involved with not being covered. Once they try to force everyone to have insurance I am not really sure yet how that will affect us.

 

We're in the same boat. We can't afford to pay high premiums and then turn around and pay out of pocket for all of our health care on top of that. So, we just pay out of pocket for things we can't ignore and hope nothing major happens.

 

Of course that is IF your child qualifies... There are income limitations. These are all great ideas, but it isn't real life.

 

The income limits are extremely high in Washington. My family of six can make $61,944 before we no longer qualify for free children's medical. Once we exceed that income, we will qualify for a state plan where we'd pay a $20 deductible per child. The income limit for a family of six is $77,446. Once we exceed that limit, there next plan has a $30 deductible per child. The limit for that one is $92,916. After that, we're on our own.

 

The limits for state medical care for adults are extremely low, though.

[kalanamak]

Y

 

So...not helpful anyway. Let's say you go for a "well" check, but lo and behold, they find something wrong....now it is an appointment for an acute matter, and you will be charged. Any further care you need will come out of pocket. So that well check is worth what, $50 bucks, just to tell you you have something wrong that you will now pay to cover?

 

The preventative care I'm thinking of is Pap, Mammo, screening colonoscopy every 10 years after 50, vaccinations.

 

Our high deductible plan already covers these. Hubby just got his shingles vac and the insurance company covered it completely.

 

Honestly? Most well-checks find nothing. If I person has a normal mental status (I.Q etc) and has no complaints, the chances of finding something are low. However, most "well checks" with adults come with some other issue (allergies, headaches, insomnia, a request for viagra, etc), often something the person has been worried about but it is not so blatant they made an appointment for it.

[kalanamak]

 

I honestly do not understand why some feel that healthcare shouldn't cost anything? We all budget for essentials, like food, shelter, clothing - why is medical care any different?

 

Waaaaaay back in the Johnson era I remember my father saying no one ever is happy about paying for healthcare the way they are about the electricity bill or the trip to the Grand Canyon or even a speeding ticket. You didn't do anything wrong, you didn't get something you wanted, and you sure didn't enjoy it.

[StephanieZ]

FWIW . . .

 

We are small business owners, employing about 10 FTE, about 7 full timers. We've always (almost 8 years of business ownership) provided health, dental, and vision (and a tiny bit of life -- 15k) for our full timers -- usually 5 or so FTers take advantage of it while one or two are on their parents' or spouse's policy.

 

EVERY year for our first 5 years, we had to totally reshop rates (about 100 management hours and 2-3 hours per staff member) for the small group b/c rates went up 25% or so EVERY YEAR unless we re-shopped. One insurer that we used for several years automatically raised our rates 27% every year unless we re-qualified (new health forms for EVERY ONE). On average, we'd end up taking about a 10% increase along with a significant reduction in benefit level each year, while still holding on to a decent level of coverage.

 

Any of those years, if, God forbid, any of our healthy young employees were actually really sick, we'd likely have been priced out of insurance altogether. Still could happen any year just because of the nature of being a small employer.

 

In 2010 and 2011, our business (as tiny employers of low wage folks), thanks to ObamaCare, were eligible for a tax credit equal to 35% of the premiums WE (employer) paid for our staff (not the premiums we paid ourselves, though). (In a couple years it goes up to 50%!) Since we pay the vast majority of the premiums, this equaled several thousand dollars in a credit to us. Due to this credit, we were able to FURTHER reduce the portion of premiums our employees pay, so we now pay about 85% of their single person premiums for top-of-the-line health/dental/vision coverage, and that bit of life as well. We pay so much that no employee ever chooses to go without unless they are already insured via a spouse or parent. (We pay about $225/mo; they pay about $70/mo.)

 

Many of our employees (fairly low wage, WV) get dental care for the first time in their adult lives when they get on our insurance. Many others first get a primary care physician when they go on our insurance, as they'd always relied on urgent care in the past. We are able to recruit and retain excellent folks in part due to health insurance offerings. Even though our business is not a lucrative place to work, folks at least have the self-respect of having the ability to provide themselves with good medical care.

 

The amount we pay towards insurance is approximately equivalent to 15% of employee's average wage ON TOP OF their wage and in addition to all other taxes and benefits. It is a huge cost for low wage earners. This is why so many employers do not offer it.

 

(We feel an ethical commitment to provide good insurance if at all feasible. We just do it.)

 

At the end of 2011, we were notified by our insurance that (due to ObamaCare), they were crediting our account with the equivalent of over 1 mos of FREE PREMIUMS for the remainder of the year. (There is a rule that x% must be spent on actual medical care, or else excess must be refunded to the payers.) We had the option of keeping this ourselves, but choose to pass along the savings equitably to our staff, so not only did our hospital get to skip premium payments that month -- actually about 6 weeks if I recall exactl -- (about $3000-$4000), but so did the employees get to skip their portions! Merry Christmas to all of us!! WOOHOO!! Guess what? We had enough $$ for nice Christmas bonuses for the staff, too!! Thanks, Obama!!

 

In March, we got our renewal notices for this fabulous insurance (our renewal date is May 1). OUR PREMIUMS DID NOT GO UP. We got to just sign on the dotted line. That is the second time in 8 years that we haven't had a huge increase and had to spend 100s of hours to shop insurance options.

 

We will be able to continue this great coverage for our staff and our selves for at least one more year at current rates.

 

ObamaCare hasn't fixed all the problems, but as tiny employers, we've reaped great benefits and been able to pass those on to our employees.

 

I thank God for the ability to continue to provide good insurance for our staff and ourselves. If any of us get seriously ill, we are always in danger of losing it at the next renewal, but I *hope and pray* that current and future regulations and insurance options will continue to allow us to provide adequate insurance for a cost we can handle.

 

I hope someday health care is a RIGHT in the US, but so long at is the crap shoot it currently is, I am thankful for whatever patchwork of regulations are available that can help us keep what we've got.

[Lisbeth]

We use an HSA plan and DH puts $400 a month in it on top of the $500 he pays for the plan per month. The HSA rolls to the next year. We are preventive in nature...no drinking, smoking, risky behaviors, our children are vaccinated and we lead healthy dietary lifestyles. We hope for the best. We dread the day we CAN'T get care because of waiting lists in medicine by gov inefficiency, which is inevitable. We have a separate medical fund for the private international waters medical cruises that may be necessary in the future to avoid dying on some wait list for basic care if the gov takes over. We cover funds for food, shelter and med care and consider it self reliance...not the job of our neighbors to cover our bills.

[Whereneverever]

The first change that effected us was that when my husband changed jobs we no longer had to wait a full year before my disabled son was covered. A year is forever with the type of expenses we rack up. Pediatric neurologists at Children's in D.C. are NOT affordable for ANYONE. Before they changes, only healthy people were covered right away . . . because THAT makes sense. :glare:

 

I'm still fighting to get insurance to cover the wheels for my son's new wheelchair. Basically, they just approved a chair. I'm serious.

 

I believe it. I'm in a fight with them over durable medical equipment. They say they only cover replaceable equipment. :confused:

[cdrumm4448]

Many companies will elect to pay the fine rather than pay for the coverage. I'm going to be MIGHTY upset if my dh's employer drops our coverage due to the healthcare legislation. I'm certainly not interested in government funded healthcare.

 

My parent's insurance just went UP $300 a month for the exact same coverage. That's Medicare and supplemental.

 

The government needs to stop meddling in my life. We live in IL, so in addition to the 67% tax increase, there's also pending legislation to push the burden of unfunded teachers' pensions onto the schools, which will in turn raise property taxes (without a referendum).

 

I just read that in 2013, the average household will see their taxes increase $3,800. That's ridiculous.

[ChocolateReignRemix]

We use an HSA plan and DH puts $400 a month in it on top of the $500 he pays for the plan per month. The HSA rolls to the next year. We are preventive in nature...no drinking, smoking, risky behaviors, our children are vaccinated and we lead healthy dietary lifestyles. We hope for the best. We dread the day we CAN'T get care because of waiting lists in medicine by gov inefficiency, which is inevitable. We have a separate medical fund for the private international waters medical cruises that may be necessary in the future to avoid dying on some wait list for basic care if the gov takes over. We cover funds for food, shelter and med care and consider it self reliance...not the job of our neighbors to cover our bills.

 

Strangely, I have missed the stories about the massive number of medical cruises operating off of the coast of Canada and Europe to save all of those poor souls from government sponsored medical services.

 

Oddly enough, most people are not asking for their neighbors to pay their medical bills, but rather they are trying to come up with an affordable way to provide care to all. We currently do not, and have not, had such a system in the Unites States, and anyone who thinks that our current system is even remotely efficient has a very limited understanding of the issue.

[cathmom]

And which part of this, exactly, is the fault of health care reform? Seems to me the blame should go to the health care industry, not the government.

 

Yep, and their lobbyists.

 

 

Our premiums have been going up with coverage going down steadily since I can remember - at least 20 years.

 

We have had the same private plan for nearly 16 years and EVERY year the price has increased.

 

Ugh. The whole thing sickens me.

 

Between healthcare and pharma, they throw sickening millions at the government to get their way (in lobby and campaign).

 

And they make sickening amounts of $. Now, I'm all for making $, but to me, they're effectively raping the citizens and the government just wrote it into law.

 

Instate contributions in 2010 were at 42 million.

 

We pay the highest price and receive the lowest quality for the $.

 

None of that is going to change. None of it.

 

We can lobby, but they have more $ and offices are held by people who kowtow to it.

 

And it's not like the doctors are getting rich.

 

Yep, I recommend the book "So D**n Much Money."

[nova147]

I've really been struggling with health care reform. On one hand, I really dislike how involved the federal government is in my life. But, DH started a law firm in 2008 (horrendous timing, as it turned out), and after a few months we couldn't afford health insurance. Thankfully, our kids are covered and I could get coverage for pregnancy with Medicad. But DH hasn't had coverage for 3 years and outside of pregnancy, neither have I.

 

Honestly, I would prefer a single payer system to the current plan, which seems to be more costly on an individual basis. I know a single payer system would mean substantially higher taxes and could affect quality of care, but at least we'd know what to expect.

 

I currently have mastitis. If the antibiotics I got don't work, I don't know what I'll do. I paid $200 for the doctor visit and prescription. I don't have more $ to pay. Especially since it will likely require surgical drainage. I guess it would just mean huge medical debt.

 

Something needs to fix this. Our children deserve a better world than this.

[Momof3littles]

That's the individual penalty. For a family, it can be up to $2085.

 

http://www.smc.org/node/499

 

The Washington Post article says there is a hardship exemption for those who truly can't afford coverage. I would assume someone unemployed would qualify for the exemption.

[Bluegoat]

 

Honestly, I would prefer a single payer system to the current plan, which seems to be more costly on an individual basis. I know a single payer system would mean substantially higher taxes and could affect quality of care, but at least we'd know what to expect.

 

I hope the antibiotics work - mastitis really sucks.

 

It's true that taxes are higher in places with universal health care, but I would say that people tend to think it is worth it. And it really isn't like our standard of living is worse than that in the US. Health care costs are a fair bit lower in single payer systems, and it means that people just don't have the same effects from catastrophic health problems. Bankruptcies due to heath issues are no where near as common, and that impacts the economy as a whole.

 

And the headache factor is significant - it is huge to just be able to go to the doctor when you need it without worrying about which doctor or how much it will cost you. Most middle class people can afford ten or twenty dollars a month - at the outside - for extended benefits through private plans if they don't have them through work. We have a good extended plan for $6 a month through my husband's job - for a family of five. That covers a significant portion of drugs, dental, glasses, and things like private rooms or private physiotherapy.

 

I'm not sure that the quality of care is all that significantly different. Health care stats are not that different really, and while some in the US can choose to pay for really fast care, for example, a lot of people are left with the average care or scrambling to manage with those who accept their not-so-great plans, or just not getting the care they need.

[housedress]

"This has NOTHING to do with Obama's health care plan. It's been this way for YEARS. Ten years ago our health insurance premiums went up 30% per year for several years. We kept having to reduce coverage and reduce coverage to afford it. Thank goodness my husband got a job with excellent health insurance. I dread going back to individual insurance.

 

Frankly, I don't like Obamacare either. I think it doesn't go far enough."

 

I hope the above looks like a quote - I really don't know how to do that properly. I couldn't agree more. We have bought our own ins. on and off since 1995, and it has gone up and up every year, since way, way before Obamacare.

In our case also, a high deductible plan with an HSA is the CHEAPEST. Our out-of pocket max is 24k b/t the monthly premiums of a bit less than 1k and a $11,900 deductible of which the first 6k approx will come from our HSA. In fact, if not too much happens medically, the HDHP/HSA offers us the only chance to come in much below that, although none of these numbers include dental or vision. I would love to get a federal-gov't-like plan for $600 per month for my family.

The fact that so many people think of COBRA as so expensive really shows that many people, as noted before in this thread, don't know what health insurance really costs. When we qualified for COBRA we stayed on it until the bitter end of our eligibility, because after that, we had to buy an individual policy, and of course we couldn't get a deal as good as a big company does.

I would love, love to deal with a little England or Canada style inefficiency instead of agonizing over whether I should get the mammogram and colonoscopy recommended by my doctor. The worry, as so many of you know, is so time and energy sucking - and the annual hours I spend trying to make sure I have the most affordable plan .... I'm not a fan of big government ordinarily, but I have noticed that my relatives that work for the government have good, worry-free insurance. Bring it.

[nova147]

I hope the antibiotics work - mastitis really sucks.

 

And the headache factor is significant - it is huge to just be able to go to the doctor when you need it without worrying about which doctor or how much it will cost you. Most middle class people can afford ten or twenty dollars a month - at the outside - for extended benefits through private plans if they don't have them through work. We have a good extended plan for $6 a month through my husband's job - for a family of five. That covers a significant portion of drugs, dental, glasses, and things like private rooms or private physiotherapy.

 

I'm not sure that the quality of care is all that significantly different. Health care stats are not that different really, and while some in the US can choose to pay for really fast care, for example, a lot of people are left with the average care or scrambling to manage with those who accept their not-so-great plans, or just not getting the care they need.

 

This is so true. I've been insured. In fact, from birth until about 3 years ago, I had good health insurance. At most, I had to pay $20 for a doctor visit or prescription. My decisions about doctor visits were about whether I (or my kids) were sick enough to go. Now, I have to decide if I'm likely to EVENTUALLY get better on my own. And then figure out where I can get the money to go. (This time it came from the money I had saved to buy curriculum for the fall. So, yeah.) There are so many things that are hard about being poor and I've learned far too many of them these past few years. But the health care problem is, in my opinion, the worst.

[ThisIsTheDay]

Why is that happen? There are various of insurance company offering a good health insurance coverage that can help you and also for families gaining a low income annually. There are companies offering a low income medical insurance for people who needs it.

 

Policy costs are set by law. These are not "low income medical insurance," they are the same plans you can find going through ehealthinsurance (in fact, this link led me to ehealthinsurance!).

[Sneezyone]

FWIW . . .

 

We are small business owners, employing about 10 FTE, about 7 full timers. We've always (almost 8 years of business ownership) provided health, dental, and vision (and a tiny bit of life -- 15k) for our full timers -- usually 5 or so FTers take advantage of it while one or two are on their parents' or spouse's policy.

 

EVERY year for our first 5 years, we had to totally reshop rates (about 100 management hours and 2-3 hours per staff member) for the small group b/c rates went up 25% or so EVERY YEAR unless we re-shopped. One insurer that we used for several years automatically raised our rates 27% every year unless we re-qualified (new health forms for EVERY ONE). On average, we'd end up taking about a 10% increase along with a significant reduction in benefit level each year, while still holding on to a decent level of coverage.

 

Any of those years, if, God forbid, any of our healthy young employees were actually really sick, we'd likely have been priced out of insurance altogether. Still could happen any year just because of the nature of being a small employer.

 

In 2010 and 2011, our business (as tiny employers of low wage folks), thanks to ObamaCare, were eligible for a tax credit equal to 35% of the premiums WE (employer) paid for our staff (not the premiums we paid ourselves, though). (In a couple years it goes up to 50%!) Since we pay the vast majority of the premiums, this equaled several thousand dollars in a credit to us. Due to this credit, we were able to FURTHER reduce the portion of premiums our employees pay, so we now pay about 85% of their single person premiums for top-of-the-line health/dental/vision coverage, and that bit of life as well. We pay so much that no employee ever chooses to go without unless they are already insured via a spouse or parent. (We pay about $225/mo; they pay about $70/mo.)

 

Many of our employees (fairly low wage, WV) get dental care for the first time in their adult lives when they get on our insurance. Many others first get a primary care physician when they go on our insurance, as they'd always relied on urgent care in the past. We are able to recruit and retain excellent folks in part due to health insurance offerings. Even though our business is not a lucrative place to work, folks at least have the self-respect of having the ability to provide themselves with good medical care.

 

The amount we pay towards insurance is approximately equivalent to 15% of employee's average wage ON TOP OF their wage and in addition to all other taxes and benefits. It is a huge cost for low wage earners. This is why so many employers do not offer it.

 

(We feel an ethical commitment to provide good insurance if at all feasible. We just do it.)

 

At the end of 2011, we were notified by our insurance that (due to ObamaCare), they were crediting our account with the equivalent of over 1 mos of FREE PREMIUMS for the remainder of the year. (There is a rule that x% must be spent on actual medical care, or else excess must be refunded to the payers.) We had the option of keeping this ourselves, but choose to pass along the savings equitably to our staff, so not only did our hospital get to skip premium payments that month -- actually about 6 weeks if I recall exactl -- (about $3000-$4000), but so did the employees get to skip their portions! Merry Christmas to all of us!! WOOHOO!! Guess what? We had enough $$ for nice Christmas bonuses for the staff, too!! Thanks, Obama!!

 

In March, we got our renewal notices for this fabulous insurance (our renewal date is May 1). OUR PREMIUMS DID NOT GO UP. We got to just sign on the dotted line. That is the second time in 8 years that we haven't had a huge increase and had to spend 100s of hours to shop insurance options.

 

We will be able to continue this great coverage for our staff and our selves for at least one more year at current rates.

 

ObamaCare hasn't fixed all the problems, but as tiny employers, we've reaped great benefits and been able to pass those on to our employees.

 

I thank God for the ability to continue to provide good insurance for our staff and ourselves. If any of us get seriously ill, we are always in danger of losing it at the next renewal, but I *hope and pray* that current and future regulations and insurance options will continue to allow us to provide adequate insurance for a cost we can handle.

 

I hope someday health care is a RIGHT in the US, but so long at is the crap shoot it currently is, I am thankful for whatever patchwork of regulations are available that can help us keep what we've got.

 

Wow, thanks for that first-hand experience. It's rare to see what the law looks like from the perspective of a small business owner. It makes wonder what kind of advantages large employers are getting and not passing along tho...hmm...:confused: