My first poll -- Increases in health insurance premiums...

[Mergath]

The girls have medical assistance through the state and we don't pay any premiums for them, so obviously no change there.

 

I don't know if I'll be on MinnesotaCare or dh's employer-sponsored coverage next year, but either way the premiums aren't changing, thankfully. I was so relieved to find out that dh's company is keeping them (and the coverage) the same next year.

[Guest]

Health insurance is our single biggest line item. By $2000 a year. Five years ago it was $440. Or so. Now it is $880. And the next closest option is $1400.

 

I’ve thought about going back to work. I just don’t think I could keep straight the double tall triple shot no fat half soy decaf latte no foam orders.

 

Property taxes are next. [\b]We “own†our house.

Oh, please, no.

[shawthorne44]

Our insurance is employer subsidized and the employee portion didn’t go up much (less than $50 per biweekly paycheck for him) in the recent enrollment cycle but the employer contribution did go up quite a bit. His employer is a MNC. If we are counting my husband and three dependents, then the premiums went up by more than $100 per paycheck.

 

 

This is true for a great many employers.   They are and have been eating much of the ObamaCare's increases.  For some it is that they don't want their employees to revolt.   For others it is that company policy is to pay a certain percentage of the employee's insurance.  That is where most of the increases have been,  

[OrganicJen]

If I worked for an employer with a group plan that gave me better coverage for a fraction of the cost of the individual plans like I have now being self employed, and the employer increased my premiums instead of absorbing it themselves, I wouldn't revolt I would still be glad to have the better coverage of the employee group plan and it would still likely be far less than an individual plan which would be my only option if I quit. The last time I was on an employee group plan what they charged me in monthly premiums came out to less than $100/month...when I quit and became self employed the cheapest plan I could buy as an individual was over $800/month and it covered very little compared to the group plan I had been on. So even if my employer had doubled my contribution it still would have been less than a quarter of what the individual plan would cost at that time if I quit.

[Stratford]

My premium went up $10 a month, or 5%.  This is coverage for myself and the kids.  DH has his own plan through work, his premium went up about the same percentage.  I am fortunate that my employer (healthcare organization) has their own insurance and it's both high-quality and affordable.  Prior to this fall, when I went back to work full-time, we were on DH's insurance and paying double what I pay for a high deductible plan, plus what we put into an HSA.  

[MarkT]

You should have used $50 increments since this was for a monthly increase

 

The trend forever seems to be increased premiums and less coverage -  but a $500 monthly increase would be OMG. Not sure if the respondents saw the "monthly".

 

There are probably a few out there with $6000 per year increase in actual increased costs.

 

 

[foxbridgeacademy]

If there was an increase it's nominal.  Nothing changed as far as I can tell but even though are premiums are cheap I still can't afford to pay the deductible($5000).  We're moving in February and other than the fact that we don't need all the space we have now it will save us enough money we can finally go to the Doctor/Dentist occasionally.

 

*Our insurance pays nothing (except the yearly check up) until the FULL deductible is reached.  

[OrganicJen]

Health insurance is our single biggest line item. By $2000 a year. Five years ago it was $440. Or so. Now it is $880. And the next closest option is $1400.

 

I’ve thought about going back to work. I just don’t think I could keep straight the double tall triple shot no fat half soy decaf latte no foam orders.

 

Property taxes are next. We “own†our house.

It's by far our biggest expense too, but I'm too afraid just to drop it so I scrimp and save in any other way I can but still really can't "afford it." I quit my job where I had a group employee health plan awhile back because of my special needs kiddo so I could be self employed and in more control of my schedule to help him. I knew it would mean some financial sacrifice, but paying more than year's college tuition now for basic coverage that pays for so little feels cruel.

[mlktwins]

You should have used $50 increments since this was for a monthly increase

 

The trend forever seems to be increased premiums and less coverage -  but a $500 monthly increase would be OMG. Not sure if the respondents saw the "monthly".

 

There are probably a few out there with $6000 per year increase in actual increased costs.

 

I'm the OP and I'm working on my stuff now.  Our contract year is May to April so our new rates kick in for our May payment. 

 

Anyway, we had a $345/month increase in 2015.  In 2016, we increased our deductibles and had a lower payment for 4 months (a $413 decrease), but in May, our lower rate increased by $199 a month.  In 2017, we had a $343 increase per month so we are now over our highest rate in 2015.  I haven't been notified of my 2018 rates and am calling now.  Crazy...

[MarkT]

Pretty sure most of us saw monthly. Mine went up over $400 a month several years in a row before we had to drop it.

Wow sorry about that.

Something needs to change.

 

I usually get around a $50 or so monthly increase each year for employer provided insurance.

[mytwomonkeys]

Ours went down, so we aren’t complaining at all. It’s still terrible Insurance with a high deductible... but we are saving money so I’m thrilled.

[MarkT]

I'm the OP and I'm working on my stuff now.  Our contract year is May to April so our new rates kick in for our May payment. 

 

Anyway, we had a $345/month increase in 2015.  In 2016, we increased our deductibles and had a lower payment for 4 months (a $413 decrease), but in May, our lower rate increased by $199 a month.  In 2017, we had a $343 increase per month so we are now over our highest rate in 2015.  I haven't been notified of my 2018 rates and am calling now.  Crazy...

Wow again - I don't want to "like" a bad situation.

IRL it seems to be worse than what I see on the news.

[mlktwins]

Wow again - I don't want to "like" a bad situation.

IRL it seems to be worse than what I see on the news.

 

From this thread, it seems self-employed people are getting the brunt of it.

[SJ.]

Our insurance is through dh's employer and it went up 25%. There was another plan offered that was significantly less with an employer funded HSA but the prescription costs are all out of pocket. My son needs a medication that costs $13,000 for a 90 day supply so a 25% premium increase it is! 😒 Now the medication will be $310 for 90 days, while the 2016 cost was only $50.

[mlktwins]

Our insurance is through dh's employer and it went up 25%. There was another plan offered that was significantly less with an employer funded HSA but the prescription costs are all out of pocket. My son needs a medication that costs $13,000 for a 90 day supply so a 25% premium increase it is! 😒 Now the medication will be $310 for 90 days, while the 2016 cost was only $50.

 

Wow!  That is crazy!  I'm so sorry you are in this situation!

[mlktwins]

Update...so I called my healthcare provider to see what my rates for our next contract cycle will be for our grandfathered plan.  They won't be able to tell me until the end of February.  The agent said it will be based on zip code, # of people in my family, age, and what types of medical expenses all the people in this plan (the pool of grandfathered people with our same deductibles) had in 2017.  Could not change a lot or it could change a lot.  We also don't have the option of increasing our deductibles to decrease our monthly cost.  We can't go any farther than our $2500 deductible per person that we already have.

 

They couldn't compare my plan to an ACA plan because they pulled out of our state.

 

He said that customers he has talked to (across the country) that left their grandfathered plans and went to ACA plan have seen increases of $300-$500 a month and they are getting lesser services than what they had in the grandfathered plans.  They are wishing they had never left.

 

This just really sucks for everyone.   

[scholastica]

You should have used $50 increments since this was for a monthly increase

 

The trend forever seems to be increased premiums and less coverage - but a $500 monthly increase would be OMG. Not sure if the respondents saw the "monthly".

 

There are probably a few out there with $6000 per year increase in actual increased costs.

I saw the fact that it was monthly. We got the notice on our ACA plan two months ago that the premium would be going from $1234 per month to $2080 per month. When people are talking about health insurance costing the same as a year of college, they’re not exaggerating. Luckily, dh’s employer is offering health insurance now and we can enroll with that plan.

[Word Nerd]

Ours went up around $20 per month—along with the deductibles.

[ashfern]

This year it's just going up a little bit. Last year it went up a lot. My DH's raises the past few years have gone to pay our premiums. In addition to not being able to put as much into savings. Because of the increases in insurance premiums, we're going backwards for retirement & college savings.  :cursing:

[HS Mom in NC]

My husband is self-employed. If we had kept the same insurance it would be $700 more a month.  Instead we opted to switch to a crappier plan that costs the same $1500 per month with a $13,000 deductible which is $1000 higher than the previous insurance deductible.

We're also pay through the nose in taxes.  Insurance and taxes are brutal on entrepreneurs.

[eternalsummer]

We are self-employed.  Insurance for just me (everyone else does catastrophic, but I get pregnant regularly so I carry normal coverage through the Marketplace) is about a hundred more a month, and either the deductible or OOP max (I can choose one or the other plan) is a couple thousand more.  All told, a normal pregnancy this year would cost about $7k; two years ago it was $4.5k.  

 

We also pay rather a lot of taxes.  I never seem to estimate high enough on the tax burden - it always catches me by surprise.  We went from being poor (around the poverty line) and having free healthcare and getting $7-$8k per year free money from the government in tax refund (although I think refund is a bad wording as we hadn't paid anything in to be refunded) to carrying catastrophic and/or insanely expensive healthcare, such that really paying OOP is cheaper 99% of the time (and that is what we do anyway, and would even with normal plans, because of deductibles) and paying 40+% of our income back to the government.  The switch from receiving something like 30% of our income in benefits paid for by others to paying 50% of income to provide benefits for others (largely speaking) is a difficult adjustment.

[Bookwoman]

You should have used $50 increments since this was for a monthly increase

 

The trend forever seems to be increased premiums and less coverage - but a $500 monthly increase would be OMG. Not sure if the respondents saw the "monthly".

 

There are probably a few out there with $6000 per year increase in actual increased costs.

To keep our same plan we would pay a 56% increase, or just over $500 more a month. We've had an affordable plan through the ACA for a couple of years as DH works on contract and I have two part time jobs. Not sure yet what we are going to do. This insurance payment would be more than our mortgage.

[Carrie12345]

You should have used $50 increments since this was for a monthly increase

 

The trend forever seems to be increased premiums and less coverage -  but a $500 monthly increase would be OMG. Not sure if the respondents saw the "monthly".

 

There are probably a few out there with $6000 per year increase in actual increased costs.

 

Believe me, I saw the monthly.

Also just saw my first 2018 bill.

 

The dream I had of renting a tiny $500/mo location for a small homeschool business is dead for now.

[displace]

Believe me, I saw the monthly.

Also just saw my first 2018 bill.

 

The dream I had of renting a tiny $500/mo location for a small homeschool business is dead for now.

:(

[Splash]

Ours is going up $35/week.  We get it through husbands employer.  So total for us is $135/week includes medical, dental, vision for seven people.  We have wonderful coverage.  There were less expensive options but due to dd's chronic very expensive illness this is our best option as a family.  Dh work specifically at this job for the insurance.  We are self employed and found that buying insurance on our own was way too expensive and we couldn't afford it. Friends who are self employed found out their insurance was going up to $2115 per month with $10,000 out of pocket before anything kicks in to pay.  She went out and got a job that offered insurance to help with that expense.

 

Costs are out of control

 

[milovany]

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Edited December 4, 2017 by milovany

[milovany]

 But yeah, it has us looking at real estate where the cost of living is a lot less, where we can sell high (our house here) and buy low (almost anywhere else). 

 

 

I might have a house you could rent soon.  :) :(

[mschickie]

Ours went up a little over $100 per pay period.  The company used to do various incentives at sign up that they say they have moved to happen through out the year that will save us more money but they do not tell us when or how much.  I am just praying it is not too big of a hit in the paycheck.

[Guest]

My husband is self-employed. If we had kept the same insurance it would be $700 more a month. Instead we opted to switch to a crappier plan that costs the same $1500 per month with a $13,000 deductible which is $1000 higher than the previous insurance deductible.

 

We're also pay through the nose in taxes. Insurance and taxes are brutal on entrepreneurs.

Not liking this because I “like†it. Just sympathize. Same boat.

[kroe1]

$1600 a month now, $2400 a month next year. This is BCBS bronze type PPO in Florida for 3 people. We will not be renewing. We were planning to go bare, but, found a Cigna Company that offers a cheap, bare bones policy for $1000 a month. Crazy, huh?

[Guest]

Wow sorry about that.

Something needs to change.

 

I usually get around a $50 or so monthly increase each year for employer provided insurance.

Yeah, I didn’t miss that it was per month. If we stayed with the same plan, our premium total for next year (JUST premiums) will be $27,441.96. And that is $9,217.08 more than we paid this year (JUST premiums). So, yeah. Health insurance is more expenses than my daughter’s college. We are self-employed. Well, for now we are. ðŸ˜

[mommyoffive]

I will find out soon.  I am worried. 

 

I am sorry people are going through this.  It needs to be changed. 

[lmrich]

Going up 67%  

You read that right 67%! AND we hardly used it last year. AND it was awful care. 

 

Being self-employed is rough. 

[luuknam]

Health insurance changes in Sept, not Jan. Not sure what the change was, since they started offering a new plan which we decided to pick. I'm pretty sure the change would've been way less than $100/month, but since we looked at this stuff in August, it's been a while. 

[wonderchica]

My employer subsidized plan went up $30. It hasn't increased in 2-3 years, and now they say it's locked in for 4 years at the new rate. It is individual coverage.

[shawthorne44]

I wonder if retail places that offer medical, e.g. Walmart and IKEA now have their pick of extremely capable applicants that just want the health insurance.   Back in the day, pre-ObamaCare, DH worked at Walmart and I worked at IKEA.   We both knew several co-workers who were doing just that.  He knew a couple of people who weren't even getting a paycheck.  100% of their after tax pay went to the stock purchase plan.   Seems like their is even more motivation now.