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2010 Sep 24, 5:18am
I’m wondering if other individuals
My individual plan (PPO with BlueShield) started at $170/mo for a $1700/yr deductible in 2008.
Now it's $170/mo for a $4500/yr deductible.
Thank you Republicans for blocking the public option in the cynical attempt to make reform Obama's "Waterloo".
High deductible with HSA not a bad idea probably.
I'm not sure how you're buying your health care, but less than 10 employees puts you at their mercy really. Most companies that size use an HR company. I'm guessing someone at your company is "using" the insurance, thus they can jack up your rates to get rid of you, while they can't do that as easily with an HR company because of the sheer number of people involved there.
They still jack up rates insanely anyways. Higher copays + flex spending helps. By 2018, you'll probably be able to find another provider to dodge that. But realistically, yoy increases on any provider is going to be a problem. If 33% puts you over the limit now, that means even if you had a 4% increase yoy, it would basically put you into the same boat in 7 years.
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2010 Sep 24, 5:20am
how on earth an MRI costs $300 in Tokyo but $2000 in Tampa
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120545569
I think someone mentioned here that joining with your chamber of commerce, might allow you to buy into their health care package?
I'm not sure if that's for individuals, or if small businesses could benefit from that.
elliemae
2010 Sep 24, 12:23pm
they can pretty much charge what they want, using non-discriminatory things such as costs, age of employees & health status, etc. You're totally screwed. Sorry. A public option would have been nice but unfortunately healthcare will continue to soar upward.
Think of it this way... I had a credit card at 9%. It was raised to 19% when the cc reform was suggested, then 29% with a small monthly rebate after it passed but before it took effect.
"reform" is certainly not reforming...
Does this mean physician salary will go up?
Nah more likely it keeps going down / staying stable and patient premiums keep going up. I wonder where it's going to? Oh yeah I know 1) HMO CEOs and administrative cost (private and govt) 2) "self-pay" aka no-pay patient cost coverage
American in Japan
2011 Jan 13, 10:06am
Thanks Troy. My wife if an MD so perhaps she has some insights here...
cheers.
This is my first post, so let's try and take it easy. I work for small company (less than 10 employees) and Aetna is trying to jack up our premiums by 33%! To add insult to injury, that price increase would also qualify our insurance as a “Cadillac plan†(which faces a 40% excise tax come 2018 -- see above link for details). I'm wondering if other individuals or companies are facing similar increases? Call this an informal survey (please try to hold off on the mud slinging for a while). It looks like we'll be going to a plan with higher co-pays to try and reduce the premiums to a more reasonable level. The one third increase, though, still seems ridiculous. We had actually jumped ship from a different insurance company last year as they had tried the same thing. I'm assuming the insurance company can't just jack up our rates (thinking we are 'locked' into their company), but has to offer the same rates to all customers in their small business pool. I'm seeking comments from others on their plans. Is Kaiser facing similar increases? Or are they going to gain share as a reasonable alternative? Or are HSAs becoming more prevalent? What is happening to your overall premiums? Is the company picking up the increase or does it all fall to the employee?