Healthcare premiums

I noticed that my healthcare premium went up about $40 this paycheck. Is this because of Obamacare? I thought premiums were supposed to go down, not up, is this not the case? Freepers, keep away, please.

Let me check with the Tooth Fairy and I'll get back to you.
I've worked in H/R and generally insurance premiums for large companies go up ever so slightly each year. For smaller companies under 50 employees a single massive heart attack or AIDS case can raise premiums on each worker as much at $5/month. Obamacare hasn't taken hold, so you should expect your premium to go up this year. Next year you will have the option of not taking health coverage through your employer and, paying the tax or shopping through state or federal brokerage insurers.
I put an ice cube on my ingrown pube.
Some insurance companies, like Cigna, are raising their premiums significantly this year before Obamacare takes effect. They won't be able to raise their premiums this much after 2014, so they're sticking it to customers now.
Ah, I see, thanks R2. My employer is the federal government, I assume it's still the same for me. Thanks again!
OP
I work at a state university, so as a single gay with no dependents the state pays 100% of my premium (thank fuck). The employee contribution for people with dependents did go up this fiscal year, but the state provided all employees with a small stipend to cover the difference (which I used for a new iPhone).
Can someone explain the whole Obamacare thing? I have insurance through my employer, but the freepers are bitching at work. I don't think this is going to affect us one way or the other. Just the basics. And my best-friend is a Dr. and hates the whole thing. Thanks.
Freepers bitch because Rush Limbaugh is their cheerleader of misinformation.
R7, people are always afraid of change. And many people are selfish and afraid that giving others what they have will hurt them in some way, thus the anger.
The increases we're seeing is the insurance companies trying to maximize profit before the main sections of the health care reform go into effect. It' time we view the insurance industry for what it is; a massive parasite.
LuciferTheLightBringer
That $40 went to care for Octomom's children. She sends her thanks.
Premiums paid by employees wouldn't have to go up as high if Obama concentrated on the uninsured. Instead he dragged the 80% of Americans who have coverage through their jobs into the plan.
[quote]And my best-friend is a Dr. and hates the whole thing. Unfortunately, most doctors today are only in it for the money. I have a few multi-millionaire doctor friends who complain that Obamacare is going to hurt their income. It's hard to feel sorry for them when they own 3 houses and go on expensive vacations 4x a year.
R13-- I am also agog at the outrageous amount of money some doctors make. I have two family friends who are anesthesiologists--one in OH, on in South Fl. The Floridian makes 800,000 and the guy from Cincinatti, 600,000. It boggles my mind, also, that they make so much more than surgeons, which--in my universe--is immensely difficult work.
We don't understand why you Americans are not out in the streets demanding change to your awful health care system. No national health care in 2013 is obscene.
The rest of the Western world
I don't know any doctors who go into medicine for the money. People who are driven by money go into finance and business. R14, those doctor's salaries aren't all that much comparatively.
R15, Our country is enormous beast, and it's difficult to get everyone on the same page at the same time.
ITA R15. Obscene is a good word for it.
Team%20Universal%20Healthcare
Try being self insured OP--my premiums went up $125 this month!!! I now pay $750 a month for insurance that is really only good as major medical plan. My deductible is $4000 per year, so my insurance company has not paid a dime in over 5 years. Anthem/Blue Cross and most other insurers are trying to push self insureds off its books. And unfortunately I can't change insurers because I've tried and been denied because of a very minor health condition!!!
14 years, self-employed at 5000 deductible the premium has gone up every 18 months. It's a racket. I'd rather pay higher taxes and have real Universal healthcare.
OP, I'm a federal retiree. You have a choice from among dozens of health plans (depending on where you live) and you are notified every fall (during open season) what the premiums for the next calendar year will be, right?
Um, at what you've paid r19 it would be better to just pay for doctor's visits with cash. Any emergency that comes up can be paid with the money you saved. Totally absurd.
If you think this is something,just wait until you have to apply for Medicare! As an eldergay, I turn 65 in two months. Although I am educated and worked in a very high position for a major corporation, I am having a tough time trying to figure out Medicare.
But, who knows, r22? It is like playing roulette.
You are out of your mind, R22. "Anything that comes up" could be a catastrophic illness that wipes out ALL his savings and puts him deep in debt.
r22 -- that would be a possibility if hospital costs were not so enormous. If I was still in my 20's it would seem like an acceptable risk. Unfortunately after my partner rang up 120K in covered medical bills for one hospitalization, it is not a risk I am not willing to take. So I'm pretty much trapped.
r19
R2 you must have worked for a very large company. I bought insurance for our 55 employee company and one employee with pancreatic cancer caused our premiums to jump 40% in one year.
See Michael Moore's "Sicko" -- not about the uninsured but about insured that still got fucked. I hate those insurance assholes. all for capitalism but not with our lives.
btt
R21, I confess that I didn't look at any of the material last fall. I just know that I've had the same health plan for years, and it doesn't normally jump such a drastic amount...
OP
All of the insurance exchanges will be required to contain at least one not-for-profit insurance option. I hope this non-profit option is going to be good comprehensive insurance at a significantly lower cost. The insurance exchanges will start rolling out in October.
OP, medical costs are going up so you're just paying a piece of this increase. Also, insurance companies are dealing with people who use the most expensive places to receive care for minor complaints and this affects employer profits. For example, if a company routinely has employees who use the ER for minor complaints such as sore throats, sprains, etc., then that is more money out the employer's pocket than if they used an urgent care or family doctor. Raising premium for ER visits and specialists is a way to discourage people from doing this. Also many people believe generic medicines aren't as good as "the real thing" so premiums for brand name drugs may increase too.
So if employed, will it be cheaper to go with your employer ins or ob care next year?
"I work at a state university, so as a single gay with no dependents the state pays 100% of my premium (thank fuck). The employee contribution for people with dependents did go up this fiscal year, but the state provided all employees with a small stipend to cover the difference (which I used for a new iPhone." That should read: the TAXPAYERS provided a small stipend so you could buy a new iPhone! I think state and city workers really should start contributing to their health care and benefits packages, this is getting really absurd, especially while everyone else working in the private sector is struggling to keep their heads above water. I have a relative, a retired fire captain/chief. He owns three homes, one is in the Hamptons! He's a total scammer. Money up the yazoo, his wife flies to Italy to shop! His pension is outrageously high, he also get extra cash because has some fake "heart illness" he claimed he got due to being a firefighter. In fact, the phony fuck was on the cover of The NY Daily News a few years ago! He was listed with some other phony 'ill' retired firefighters who were all getting outrageous pensions. The real story is, he wasn't a fire fighter very long until he became a captain or chief. He basically stopped fighting fires, he wasn't even sick at that point! The real story was, he got sick from smoking and drinking, not from inhaling smoke from fires! Taxpayers should not be paying for these phonies. btw, before someone here calls me a freeper, I'm a Liberal Democrat, but I really do hate phonies who suck the taxpayers dry!
It might seem logical on the surface R22 but in practice it's an absurd risk for most unless one is willing to declare bankruptcy. Prices are wildly inflated for the uninsured for both medical and dental care. To pay for anything as an uninsured patient is to subsidize the insured. I was briefly uninsured and my 75k hospital bill would have billed at and paid in full by insurance at less than 16k. A lab test might be billed/paid in full at $35 for an insured patient but cash-priced at $565 for an uninsured patient. Dental was less than but still similarly ridiculous. The practice is widespread and consistent and has been so for a long time. An uninsured friend of mine, living in another state, recently received a 220k room&board (only) bill for an 8 or 9 day hospital stay. Insured patients are granted massive discounts whether a procedure is covered by their insurance or not, and uninsured patients are massively financially penalized for the crime of being uninsured. R31, people who have access to medical care, and access they can use without being fired from their jobs by said employer, don't go sit in the E.R. for six hours waiting to have a sore throat glanced at. That's a bullshit meme no different than Reagan's Cadillac Welfare Mamas.
R19 Doesn't your state have a pre existing condition clause? I'm with Cigna. I pay 514 a month for a PPO and have a 1400 deductible for the year. Word to the wise, stay away from Health Net. If your employer only offers you Health Net, they don't really give a damn about you.
What makes anyone think that having a basic health insurance policy with a high deductable is going to stop people from using the ER as a doctor office? They are just not going to pay the bill just like they do now.
Some facts for you: Obamacare has no provisions about actual premium levels (meaning it doesn't require premiums be less than $x). There are provisions that 80-85% of insurance premiums be used for claims. (It's referred to as a required medical loss ratio, or MLR.) The other 15-20% of premium is used for administrative costs (for ex. Paying to process the claim, call centers, etc.), taxes, and profits. There will be reviews for an insurance carrier's premium increases. So if Blue Cross wants to bump premiums by 10% next year, it will need to be reviewed and approved by the exchange. Obamacare also defined "essential benefits" that must be covered within your health insurance. So if your coverage now has benefits that it didn't previously have, chances are the premiums went up. If you get your coverage through an employer who subsidizes cost, that's another variable that could factor in to premiums. For instance, let's say your insurance costs $400 a month and your employer pays for 75% ($300), with you paying the balance ($100). There are scenarios where your premiums go down (say a $50 decrease to $350), but you pay MORE because your employer pays less (for ex. your employer pays 50%, or $175, so now you pay $175.) My opinion? We're battling the wrong dragon. Everyone's bitching about insurance coverage and cost, but that's all driven by actual medical costs. And there's very little being done about medical costs, which have been increasing 10-20% annually. The concept of universal healthcare is noble, but not only will it take a huge increase in taxes to support, the costs will increase significantly every year unless we do something about medical costs and people's constant need for care. I could go on, but I'll be surprised if people read this whole post!
[quote]Word to the wise, stay away from Health Net. If your employer only offers you Health Net, they don't really give a damn about you. Founded by an Indian immigrant. If you love Indian customer service, you'll love Health Net.
[quote]The concept of universal healthcare is noble, but not only will it take a huge increase in taxes to support, the costs will increase significantly every year unless we do something about medical costs and people's constant need for care. Every time that Obama tries to lower health care costs, Republicans scream that it's socialized medicine telling you if you can have a certain unnecessary test or not.