Huge rate increase for Obamacare--I think I'm screwed

[frugalone]

Yesterday we got a letter from our insurance company stating they will no longer be carrying our "Silver Plan" of health insurance, which we get under the Affordable Health Care Act. I completely freaked out (hysterics, etc.) because it is DOUBLE what I am paying right now. If I could afford $476 per month premiums, I would just get the HMO at work (which is what it costs for a husband and wife).

I don't yet know what my options are. Work does offer a bare-bones, huge deductible plan around the same cost of what I'm paying for ACA. On a side note, I was totally flabbergasted when I took this job after being unemployed for three years and found out their health insurance costs were huge for a family.

I am angry on so many levels. I feel as though since the insurance companies were "forced" to cover the great unwashed, now they figure they'll just stick it to the poor by increasing their rates so that insurance is no longer "affordable."

I just got a small raise at work, and got rid of a car so I could pay less insurance. Every time I feel like I am getting the least bit ahead, something happens to knock me back down. I feel very depressed today.

[Lainey]

That's frustrating. My Mega Corp. employer limited premium increases to those making over $100,000/year, so at least this year I'm ok.

But the trend I'm seeing year over year is higher deductibles and less coverage, e.g. no more vision coverage. I think businesses basically want to get out of the health insurance business altogether. Which is all the more puzzling to me that they didn't get on board with universal coverage/Medicare for everyone years ago. So in the meantime I agree people are getting squeezed.

[bekkilyn]

And this sort of thing is precisely why we need to get for-profit and insurance companies out of healthcare. It is killing this country. Obamacare was much better than the nothing we previously had, but including the insurance companies was still making a deal with the devil.

[bekkilyn]

That's frustrating. My Mega Corp. employer limited premium increases to those making over $100,000/year, so at least this year I'm ok.

But the trend I'm seeing year over year is higher deductibles and less coverage, e.g. no more vision coverage. I think businesses basically want to get out of the health insurance business altogether. Which is all the more puzzling to me that they didn't get on board with universal coverage/Medicare for everyone years ago. So in the meantime I agree people are getting squeezed.

I'm actually fine with businesses getting out of healthcare altogether as I don't believe that a person's healthcare should have any ties to their job. Too many people feel stuck in their jobs due to need for health insurance and I would like nothing more for that shackle to go away so that the employee can feel free to move elsewhere and the company isn't stuck with someone who works for them less than half-heartedly.

Universal coverage/Medicare should only help businesses and do more to promote small business growth as people feel more free to actually start them.

Universal coverage wouldn't completely end the problem as we still also need to deal with the ridiculous costs, but it would be a good start.

[ApatheticNoMore]

If I could afford $476 per month premiums, I would just get the HMO at work (which is what it costs for a husband and wife).

if you end up paying that much anyway you probably should go through the work plan, plans offered through work are generally better than ACA plans (wider networks for instance) as they usually have some employer subsidy etc.. Don't ask me how to afford what you really can't afford, already being a frugal one as you are I don't know.

I don't yet know what my options are. Work does offer a bare-bones, huge deductible plan around the same cost of what I'm paying for ACA.

one option, see if it's really as bad as it seems, work high deductible plans aren't *always* terrible (HSAs and so on), but it is digging into a lot of details to even compare them to what the ACA options might be. Not fun.

On a side note, I was totally flabbergasted when I took this job after being unemployed for three years and found out their health insurance costs were huge for a family.

I got burned with a vast jump in healthcare costs at my current job too. Woah! Now I quote a desired salary for a job several thousand higher than I would if I knew before having to give a quote what healthcare costs would be. This is ridiculous that I'm doing this mine you. But we're going in blind in terms of massively expensive benefits when comparing jobs oftentimes!

I feel very depressed today.

could wait until you have all the facts, mind you sometimes the facts are terrible ... but you don't have them all yet.

But the trend I'm seeing year over year is higher deductibles and less coverage, e.g. no more vision coverage. I think businesses basically want to get out of the health insurance business altogether. Which is all the more puzzling to me that they didn't get on board with universal coverage/Medicare for everyone years ago. So in the meantime I agree people are getting squeezed.

they are very much being incentivized to get out of it, with Cadillac taxes and so on (and with no enforcement of the employer mandate)

I'm actually fine with businesses getting out of healthcare altogether as I don't believe that a person's healthcare should have any ties to their job.

no it's not cool, not with no prospect of universal healthcare coverage on the horizon (might have to reconsider this if our next president ends up being Bernie Sanders I guess). It's just leaving people stranded with nothing. And individuals negotiating the market as individuals have way less bargaining power than businesses would, it's just setting them up powerless before the giant insurance companies, much worse off than they were before (those who had employer coverage that is of course). It's not fine for businesses to get out of healthcare and leave the burden entirely on individuals.

[bekkilyn]

no it's not cool, not with no prospect of universal healthcare coverage on the horizon (might have to reconsider this if our next president ends up being Bernie Sanders I guess). It's just leaving people stranded with nothing. And individuals negotiating the market as individuals have way less bargaining power than businesses would, it's just setting them up powerless before the giant insurance companies, much worse off than they were before (those who had employer coverage that is of course). It's not fine for businesses to get out of healthcare and leave the burden entirely on individuals.

Oh I wasn't suggesting that businesses should just dump everyone off of healthcare tomorrow, but we do ultimately need the separation.

[Miss Cellane]

Ugh. A friend of mine is struggling with some on-going health issues. She works full-time retail. The company changed insurance providers this year--higher premiums and fewer benefits.

Plus, full-time employees have to average 32 hours a week over six months to qualify for continued benefits. The hitch is that they are only scheduled for 28 hours a week, so they have to scramble to take open shifts, or beg their managers for more hours, while the store keeps cutting hours. And of course, if she is out sick, she's not working, and her average hours per week drop. Plus her weekly pay is less, and she has less money overall to pay bills and insurance.

She worked for 3 months in increasing pain before she was forced by the pain to take 4 days off for surgery and recovery. She looked into ACA, but because her employer offers health care, she is not eligible.

I worked there when I was laid off. If you ever wonder why your cashier came to work with a nasty cold or the flu--they can't afford to lose that shift's pay, plus they may need to work to keep their benefits, plus they might not be able to afford another attendance point--most places if you get a certain number of points for call-outs, you get fired. And of course, working while sick tends to mean that it takes longer to get better . . . it's an unending cycle.

It's a ridiculous situation, no matter how you get your insurance.

[frugalone]

Supposedly that is the case, that if your employer offers a plan, you don't qualify. But I get ACA and I work full time and my employer offers plans. I am also within the % of the poverty line. Your friend might consider looking into it again.

I know I was also lied to by Blue Cross and told we didn't qualify, but when we called the free line at healthcare.gov, we certainly did qualify.

I hope your friend finds a solution!

She worked for 3 months in increasing pain before she was forced by the pain to take 4 days off for surgery and recovery. She looked into ACA, but because her employer offers health care, she is not eligible.

[freshstart]

I am dreading open enrollment. My Cobra plan is $450, it was $75 a month maybe when I worked. If you stayed within our vast system of healthcare, everything is dirt cheap. It's so big, I for years chose that cheap plan because what could possibly go wrong that could not be addressed by my company's resources? Turns out a lot, a whole lot. I had to use the more expansive medical center and had to pay through the nose. So I won't pick that again. So that dumps me in the NYS Marketplace that is supposedly a bit better than Obamacare. I have to really read all the plans in great detail because I can guess next year will probably involve even more intensive stuff and more expensive meds. So I guess I'll have to pick a gold plan. This is the kind of stuff I really struggle with lately, understanding the policies, doing any math even with a calculator. They do have people you can meet with to help you make a decision. Then I wonder if my $450 Cobra plan that works best with my company, is possibly the better choice because I reached the out of pocket max last week, everything is free until 1/1. Is reaching the max early so months of stuff is free but you not only have to pay $450, you pay thousands more to reach the OOP max? I cannot begin to express how hard this will be for me because I know I make crappy decisions lately, get confused, cannot remember info given to me and am already so anxious about it, I can't make myself believe there will be a plan that fits me out there.

[Tradd]

Supposedly that is the case, that if your employer offers a plan, you don't qualify. But I get ACA and I work full time and my employer offers plans. I am also within the % of the poverty line. Your friend might consider looking into it again.

I know I was also lied to by Blue Cross and told we didn't qualify, but when we called the free line at healthcare.gov, we certainly did qualify.

I hope your friend finds a solution!

I thought that you wouldn't qualify for gov't subsidies if you got insurance through the ACA if you refused employer-offered insurance. But maybe I'm wrong. Just going off memory.