Pammy Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 I guess Obamacare is starting to take effect. God help us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BakersDozen Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Our insurance has gone up consistently over the last 4 years, anywhere from $60/month to $240/month. We can't take another increase and so are going to have to do something like go to catastrophic coverage only and hope to God nothing happens. Costs are out of control, no matter what the reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessMommy Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 yes. My husband's company has totally re-done the way they do insurance. We had no more choice either - this was our only insurance option, according to dh. It's not even that it's more expensive, it's completely changed. I don't like the new way and am still trying to get a handle on how they do thing. We have a debit card that we pay into (and insurance pays into as well), this is what we should use from now on for all medical related things, but I'm not sure how my college kids will do a co-pay at college and dh hasn't been able to figure it out either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erica in OR Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 We have a high deductible policy and our most recent increase was no more than other years. Our changeover happens in late summer/early fall. We'll see what this year brings for us. Erica in OR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicagoshannon Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Yes it was a huge increase. For the last 3 years its been increasing with decreasing coverage and higher deductibles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PachiSusan Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 No we did not have a significant increase this year. This topic has been beaten beyond death already. That's what I thought. No controversial topic is ever dead apparently. :rolleyes: To answer the question, no. We have had increases every year. This year was no better or worse than previous increases. And we have one of the most "evil" insurance companies ever: Aetna. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Not this year. And thanks to Obamacare my mammogram was covered with no copay last year! Yea! We have had a number of years when premiums went up with no raise or cost of living increase, so we had take home drops. I think we had that 3 years running. I'm thrilled at the idea that my son will be able to have insurance as an adult, although I'd definitely prefer a single payer system where insurance execs aren't getting to profit over others misfortune. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 We have had increases every year. This year was no better or worse than previous increases. And we have one of the most "evil" insurance companies ever: Aetna. Hubby's company is using Aetna PPO too and Aetna upped the medical and dental insurance fees and lower the coverage. His company is paying more and so are we. We were told of the increase in November during open enrolment and the increase starts on Jan 1. Last few years there were increases but no decrease in coverage. This year is the first year with decrease in coverage. We might just switch to Kaiser HMO next year. His company had Blue Cross PPO which was so bad the company switched to United Healthcare PPO which was better and than to Aetna PPO. The HMO choice is Kaiser. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 We are doing without. Our cost would be over $2000 a MONTH for our family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer3141 Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Not this year. And thanks to Obamacare my mammogram was covered with no copay last year! Yea! We have had a number of years when premiums went up with no raise or cost of living increase, so we had take home drops. I think we had that 3 years running. I'm thrilled at the idea that my son will be able to have insurance as an adult, although I'd definitely prefer a single payer system where insurance execs aren't getting to profit over others misfortune. THIS. We have a small company though and we sit down with our co-workers every year and pick out a policy. This year, we actually SAVED money on insurance for the first time ever. It was sweet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PachiSusan Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 We are doing without. Our cost would be over $2000 a MONTH for our family. It's crazy how expensive it is. I have no idea what the future holds for our family. I voted yes because of last year. This year we don't have any coverage at all. My husband is unemployed and we cannot afford it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BakersDozen Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 We are doing without. Our cost would be over $2000 a MONTH for our family. This is what we pay as well. And that's just premiums, not what we put aside from dh's paycheck to cover copays and all that. I'd love to know if going without was a difficult decision because I just know as soon as we drop coverage, something huge will happen and we'll be bankrupt just like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 I can not believe this dead horse is still being beaten. Our health insurance costs have gone up every year with less coverage for more years then Obama has been in office. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrookValley. Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 I can not believe this dead horse is still being beaten. Our health insurance costs have gone up every year with less coverage for more years then Obama has been in office. Exactly. Ours increased this year, but it was less of an increase than some years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 I can not believe this dead horse is still being beaten. Our health insurance costs have gone up every year with less coverage for more years then Obama has been in office. This. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PachiSusan Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 I can not believe this dead horse is still being beaten. Our health insurance costs have gone up every year with less coverage for more years then Obama has been in office. I'm not beating it. Someone asked a question and I answered it truthfully and said nothing about Obama Care, President Obama, or any person or entity to blame. It's a real concern in people's lives. ETA However I can see that the OP did bring it up as such, but am not discussing it because of her views. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Our insurance cost went DOWN dramatically this year, for the same exact level of coverage, same doctors, and so on. Our monthly family out-of-paycheck cost (5 people) is half of what it was last year. Prescriptions now count against the deductible (family members take 5 daily meds) which they never did before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Our insurance costs have risen steadily, and sometimes dramatically, over the past decade or more. This year was one of the smallest increases in premiums we've had in many years, and there was no change in our deductibles or co-pays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PachiSusan Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Our insurance cost went DOWN dramatically this year, for the same exact level of coverage, same doctors, and so on. Our monthly family out-of-paycheck cost (5 people) is half of what it was last year. Prescriptions now count against the deductible (family members take 5 daily meds) which they never did before. What company are you getting your insurance from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 For us, it doesn't matter if it was a hard decision or not, we don't have $2k a month when the bills and food are done being bought. If something major happened to the kids, I *think* they'd be covered under state Medicaid. In the mean time, for random things, we just pay cash to our preferred drs. If something major happened to me, I don't know that insurance would make a difference. Insurance has not covered one single major medical for me in over four years, including the delivery of the last two babies. For dh, the major hurt is his type one diabetes and insulin stuff. Which was covered under RX insurance at about 50%. But again, stuff often wasn't covered. For example, he was due and needs a new insulin pump. He ordered the dadblum thing in November, and called repeatedly but they couldn't get their head out their bum and process the order. Finally they say it is processed and should arrive within a weeriis December. Doesn't arrive. Calls repeatedly again and keeps getting passed around to leave messages everywhere. He called again the week of Christmas and is told the person in charge of his account quit and apparently didn't ever put his paper work through. December 28 was his last day at work and sure enough now the insurance company basically says "oh well. We can't process it now. Sorry." so now we are scrounging up a way to eventually save for one entirely out of pocket. I cannot count how often having insurance didn't do a dang thing for us but rob us every payday. Makes me so cotton picking angry. :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Hubby's company is using Aetna PPO too and Aetna upped the medical and dental insurance fees and lower the coverage. His company is paying more and so are we. We were told of the increase in November during open enrolment and the increase starts on Jan 1. Last few years there were increases but no decrease in coverage. This year is the first year with decrease in coverage. We might just switch to Kaiser HMO next year. His company had Blue Cross PPO which was so bad the company switched to United Healthcare PPO which was better and than to Aetna PPO. The HMO choice is Kaiser. Ours is an HMO called Aetna Open Access. It's actually pretty good, so when people talk about how horrible Aetna is we can't really say we've had a bad experience. We used to have a $10 co-pay, which increased to $15 6 or 7 years ago. Other than some formulary changes (which happen every year), coverage hasn't changed. The cost for the exact same coverage however, has gone up every single year in the more than 10 years we've had this insurance. Most employer provided insurance was grandfathered in and unfortunately will get away with not offering some of the exciting new changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Ours went down this year for the first time, and no copay on the mammogram. For the past 14 years it has gone up. And Aetna... ugh. They refused to cover my son's stay in a NICU when he was born 2 months early. They said I had gone out of district, when there is no NICU in my county and we had no choice. My local hospital wouldn't even let me go in, they sent me right to the bigger hospital in the next city. Aetna refused to pay 30,000 in care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BakersDozen Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 If something major happened to the kids, I *think* they'd be covered under state Medicaid. So are your kids on the state program now or is that only if something happened, then you would apply? I don't know anything about Medicaid or how it works. f something major happened to me, I don't know that insurance would make a difference. Insurance has not covered one single major medical for me in over four years, including the delivery of the last two babies. May I ask what insurance you had? Right now we are with BC/BS and are looking at all options, yet haven't found anything better, only worse. So our next step is catastrophic coverage only or nothing (although I guess that will lead to penalties...). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessMommy Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 I can not believe this dead horse is still being beaten. Our health insurance costs have gone up every year with less coverage for more years then Obama has been in office. I never said anything about Obama or or Obamacare either. I just answered the factual question. I am encouraged to see that several people had their coverage go down! I want to know what we're doing wrong. We're with Cigna. We used to have choices Cigna, Aetna, Blue Cross...... but that seems to have stopped and everyone at the company has the same coverage now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenaj Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Ours went up, our co-pays have gone up and our deductibles have gone up - biggest increase in years. Yep, I'll blame Obamacare until someone convinces me there was some other cause. Dh employer is probably a fairly small employer in the scheme of things and they are getting hurt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Yes, and it's why we don't have insurance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMA Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 yes. My husband's company has totally re-done the way they do insurance. We had no more choice either - this was our only insurance option, according to dh. It's not even that it's more expensive, it's completely changed. I don't like the new way and am still trying to get a handle on how they do thing. We have a debit card that we pay into (and insurance pays into as well), this is what we should use from now on for all medical related things, but I'm not sure how my college kids will do a co-pay at college and dh hasn't been able to figure it out either. They will probably have to pay out of pocket and submit receipts with a form. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saddlemomma Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 YES! $129 more a month between healthcare and increased taxes and we are lower middle income. I thought we were told it would only affect the rich!!!! I knew that was baloney. When will people realize our government is a giant sucking machine that needs to go on a strict diet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TranquilMind Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 I guess Obamacare is starting to take effect. God help us. Yes, ours went up significantly. It's basically for large problems only now, with the $4,000 per person deductible! I've never met that once in the quarter century of our marriage except for last year, right before it took effect. I had a hospitalization and still had the $250 deductible. Thank God. It was still almost 7 grand out of pocket! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TranquilMind Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 They will probably have to pay out of pocket and submit receipts with a form. We have the stupid card too, and you CANNOT submit receipts. If you forgot the card or someone else who isn't with you needs it, too bad. Out of pocket for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 yes. Dh is in the insurance industry. we see it from the inside and it is government regulations. not only what they are doing to the insurance industry, but what they are doing to private companies who insure their employees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 hasn't there been a study that compares average employer contribution, average employee contribution, coverage cost. I'm sure I've seen this a few times and I'm certain what I've seen has shown coverage costs steadily rising over the last decade or so while the amount of things covered declined over the same period. These issues started way before this president. There's a reason healthcare was on the Clinton agenda in 1992. While Clinton was unsuccessful getting anything done, it was already a problem then. I researched the Canadian health system for a policy class in law school way back then. The problems with costs and coverage have gotten steadily worse since the early 1990s. You, as an individual, may not have felt the changes, but they were happening all that time. Just because your employee makes changes to deal with the costs today, does not mean the costs have not been a problem all the time, it just means your employer is finally trying to do something as a business about the cost. Employers are seeking ways to save money. Reducing employer contribution is a way to save money. Changing plans and coverage saves money. Insurance companies seek to make money, raising fees and reducing coverage makes money for the insurance company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OH_Homeschooler Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Here's what I don't get. So many people are blaming Obamacare for the cost of insurance going up and the general "socialization" of medicine. But healthcare in the US has long been socialized. When someone does not have insurance but receives medical treatment they cannot pay for, we all pay. Insurance rates go up to cover increasing medical costs, which are in part increasing because more people who cannot afford medical care are still receiving medical care. Now, thanks to Obamacare, insurance companies are going to be forced to cover things they should have been covering all along. More people are going to have insurance, so they are going to go to a regular doctor or clinic for minor concerns instead of the ER, and that will save everyone money in the long run. I don't know, I think Obamacare is a good thing. I think insurance companies have always been greedy and evil and will fight you every step of the way when you are entitled to coverage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJ. Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 After 8 years of no increases and fantastic coverage we are facing a significant monthly increase and not as great coverage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunnyDays Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Our did go up this year. We're now paying as much for a high deductible plan as we paid for a good PPO plan 5-7 years ago. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 No increases here. No change in deductible in three years, no change in premiums in three years, and our coverage is better than ever before. Our worst increases were 5-7 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Well, come to think of it, I've not seen an LES in ages. I suppose if there was something significant dh would let me know. Then again, no he wouldn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 So are your kids on the state program now or is that only if something happened, then you would apply? I don't know anything about Medicaid or how it works. May I ask what insurance you had? Right now we are with BC/BS and are looking at all options, yet haven't found anything better, only worse. So our next step is catastrophic coverage only or nothing (although I guess that will lead to penalties...). I haven't applied for the kid's yet. We have had Aetna and unitedhealthcare. Supposedly Cadillac plans at that. Phiift. :/ In theory I had great plans compared to some. But I have to say I think that must really suck for a lot of people then. It got so bad that the last 4 years I don't think we even bothered to use the frickin insurance card unless a hospital was invovled or to order dh's insulin stuff via mail order. We have made a strong effort to find reputable doctors who don't take insurance and are cash only. It's been worth every penny so far. We never had rx coverage unless it was a 3 month perscription. So insulin was covered by the mail order, but antibiotics for a sick kid or pain killers for a broken wrist? Not covered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 The big increases have been due to state regulations mandating colonscopy coverage and this year, 180+ due to the $60 per person increase to pay for Obamacare. There is not a federal plan that one pays for..... is someone telling you that you are being charged $60/person to pay specifically for Obamacare? Since there is not an universal plan to pay into, I'm not sure I'm understanding what you mean. Really not being snarky, it just doesn't make sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 I completely agree sucky insurance and rising costs didn't start with Obama. But his entire campaign was supposedly to reduce the costs and that sure isn't happening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdalley Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 It went way up this year. Our salary went way down. It had not increased for the past six years at this particular company. Just this year and it hurt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 I completely agree sucky insurance and rising costs didn't start with Obama. But his entire campaign was supposedly to reduce the costs and that sure isn't happening. It wasn't expected to until the full legislation is put into place. We have another two years before that happens, from what I recall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 It wasn't expected to until the full legislation is put into place. We have another two years before that happens, from what I recall. Oh geez. So the idea is that it will skyrocket enough that coming back into the ozone will seem a relief even tho it is still crazy high. Not a fan of Obamacare. It seems to combine what everyone hates most about insurance with what everyone hates most about beauacracy. I'd be far happier with a universal health plan than this mess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Oh geez. So the idea is that it will skyrocket enough that coming back into the ozone will seem a relief even tho it is still crazy high. Not a fan of Obamacare. It seems to combine what everyone hates most about insurance with what everyone hates most about beauacracy. I'd be far happier with a universal health plan than this mess. Ugh? You are twisting my words. From what I've seen, it's been a huge mix of people seeing lowered rates and higher rates. I do not think that overall we are going to see huge increases before it comes back down though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TN Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Our rates have gone up a little, but we notice that the coverage is going down considerably; we will have to pay much more out of pocket with much larger deductables. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Toto Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 We just let ours lapse. We were paying $900/month for a extremely high deductible/cover nothing plan since dh was self-employed. We don't use nearly that much in health care so we're just really hoping nothing big happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Employers are seeking ways to save money. Reducing employer contribution is a way to save money. Changing plans and coverage saves money. Insurance companies seek to make money, raising fees and reducing coverage makes money for the insurance company. Unfortunately for hubby's company, the person in charge of insurance assume business as usual and did not get quotations from other companies. So even the employer contribution went up because Aetna charged more for less coverage this year compared to last year. The person in charge would definately be getting more quotations this year before open enrolment since there has been plenty of complains. In fact every year his company's employer contribution for health and dental insurance has always gone up. We pay about $400 per month for family health insurance. His company's employer contribution is a lot more. . Now, thanks to Obamacare, insurance companies are going to be forced to cover things they should have been covering all along. More people are going to have insurance, so they are going to go to a regular doctor or clinic for minor concerns instead of the ER, and that will save everyone money in the long run. It depends on what you define as minor concerns. For fever and cough, it is much cheaper to buy tylenol and benadryl than to pay $20 co-pay to see the family practitioner. For well-baby checkups, it cost us $20 per visit too so we skip those unless there is something wrong we want check, The only time we went to the doctor was when my younger had HFMD (hand foot and mouth disease). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 We saw no meaningful increase this year in either our cost or my husband's employer's cost (both are printed on his pay stub.) None of the various plan options we have saw meaningful increases. We are fortunate that he works in an industry that generally offers excellent healthcare coverage to attract and retain skilled workers. They cover employee and kids 100% and the cost for my insurance is deducted from his paycheck. Over the entire 6 years that he has worked there the payroll deduction for my insurance has increased some most (not all) years but it has not been a prohibitive increase- it was about $200 monthly when he started and now it is closing in on $250. While that is almost a 25% increase over 6 years, it is way less than what I hear about in the individual or small employer market so I feel we have nothing to complain about. Coverage is exceptional and has not decreased. They even cover autism related treatment for my son who was diagnosed at age 8. That is not a given or especially common nor is it required by my state's laws past developmental coverage through age 6. It is something his employer specifically chooses to add to their plan. We have had years where paying out of pocket would have been cheaper. Now we are benefiting quite a bit. That's how insurance works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom23Boys Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 We had an $80 a month increase, but only because we chose a better plan than we had last year. If we had stayed with our old plan, our costs would have been the same. The cost of the plans have stayed the same for the last few years. We have 3 choices: a high-deductible plan, a PPO with a$1000 deductible and a PPO with a $500 deductible. We moved from the higher deductible to the lower one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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