2
0

Blue Shield Raised Our Rates 73% In One Year


 invite response                
2010 Dec 27, 2:40pm   86,892 views  345 comments

by Patrick   ➕follow (59)   💰tip   ignore  

Blue Shield has raised our rates so many times recently that I decided to graph it.

We have a very high deductible plan because I'm trying to be self-employed and that's all I could afford on my own. There is an $8000 per person deductible so it covers basically nothing but catastrophic care. Now it's $777 per month. It was $447 per month a year ago. This is utterly insane. 73% in one year! Here's the future if this keeps up:

2011: $1344 per month
2012: $2325 per month
2013: $4022 per month
2014: $6958 per month
2015: $12,037 per month
2016: $20,824 per month

Of course I'm shopping for other insurance via http://www.healthcare.gov/ but so far none of the others seem to be much cheaper.

Blue Shield claims that their own costs have gone up 19%. So WTF did they raise my premiums 73%? Isn't there any law against price gouging?

This all pleases our corporate masters of course, because the need for health insurance prevents small entrepreneurs from competing with them. It also makes employees into obedient servants.

#insurance

« First        Comments 344 - 345 of 345        Search these comments

344   Homeboy   2013 Jan 3, 3:31pm  

Meccos says

Is it possible to disagree with the ACA without hating liberals? I know you probably dont think so.

Of course it is. But then YOU'RE the one who brought up Pelosi, and she seems to be the favorite target of right wingers who hate liberals.

Meccos says

nope. depends on how much resources those customers use versus how much they pay into the system. The problem with what you say is that you assume that all these new customers will be similar to present customers who will use the same amount of resources and have the same amount of payments.

Actually, that's not the case. YOU are the one making the assumptions. You are assuming none of the people who will be required to buy insurance under the individual mandate will pay for it. That's absurd. What I'm saying is that you can't know that until it happens.

Meccos says

Unfortunately many people are uninsured and they simply get no care. Some go to ERs and get treated for life threatening issues, but elective nor non-life threatening issues simply do not get treated.

Um, you do know that preventative care from a doctor's office is cheaper than going to the ER after you get a serious illness, don't you? I think you are again making an assumption. You assume it will cost more for poor people to have a health plan than for them to go to the ER, when it's quite possible the opposite will be true.

Meccos says

Some have care that subsidized by either local govt or federal govt system. A lof of this will now be subsidized by us, because now insurance companies will be forced to enroll these people previously getting govt subsidized care.

Really? Can you give me an example of government-sponsored healthcare that will cease to exist and be replaced by ACA?

Meccos says

Unfortunately, the reimbursement for treating the indigent with govt sponsored care is often less than the cost of treatment. So where does the money come from...people like us who have increased premiums to subsidize this care. Why do you think there was a mandate for everyone to get insurance? Even you admitted that it was to subsidize.

We're just going in circles. I already said some people will be subsidized, and I explained how that is paid for. This all comes down to your claim that ACA caused premiums to go up, because of your theory that they're already pricing in the future subsidies. Unfortunately for you, it's simply not true. I already proved that premiums are increasing LESS than they were before, so that completely blows your theory out of the water. The FACTS simply don't agree with your premise.

345   zzyzzx   2013 Jan 4, 12:04am  

If I understand you correctly Patrick, you now have a job, right? That was fast (I think). So how is your health insurance there?

« First        Comments 344 - 345 of 345        Search these comments

Please register to comment:

api   best comments   contact   latest images   memes   one year ago   random   suggestions