Premium increases - quite variable by state (HSA, plan, coverage)

[KittenSparkles]

I think this graphic is pretty interesting, and helps explain, to some extent, why there can be such varying views on the costs of health insurance on forums such as this one.

As you can see, people in some states experienced an increase, while others did not.

source: Health Insurance Premiums and Premium Costs by State

[Flamingo13]

Thank you for posting... to many on here are declaring the "fact" that they all went up.

[Rabrrita]

Another item that impacts insurance rates that is often overlooked or ignored is the addition of required coverage that may have just gone into effect in a specific state. You may see a state with a +15% rate increase but that could be because the state itself now requires coverage for certain items that previously wasn't a mandatory item all insurance companies had to cover at a certain rate.

[Ariadne22]

Originally Posted by Flamingo13

Thank you for posting... to many on here are declaring the "fact" that they all went up.

Heh - dil said tonight her health insurance premium effective the beginning of the year was reduced 4%. HR people told her lower usage of the plan for the group has a whole was the reason. Of course, there's quite a bit of cost-sharing in her HSA plan - the $3k family deductible which must be satisfied in its entirety FIRST before plan pays a dime.

[Qwerty]

Originally Posted by Rabrrita

Another item that impacts insurance rates that is often overlooked or ignored is the addition of required coverage that may have just gone into effect in a specific state. You may see a state with a +15% rate increase but that could be because the state itself now requires coverage for certain items that previously wasn't a mandatory item all insurance companies had to cover at a certain rate.

Possible but more likely insurance companies underestimated what the usage would be. The system still needs time to settle and in another couple years, the changes will be less. Also, if you look at the numbers, many states with larger increases still have some of the lowest premiums, with the exception of Alaska.

Originally Posted by Ariadne22

Heh - dil said tonight her health insurance premium effective the beginning of the year was reduced 4%. HR people told her lower usage of the plan for the group has a whole was the reason. Of course, there's quite a bit of cost-sharing in her HSA plan - the $3k family deductible which must be satisfied in its entirety FIRST before plan pays a dime.

This has been a trend I've seen for the past 2 or 3 years, group plans are staying the same or going down for groups with high HSA qualified plan usage. People are using their plans more wisely, pricing out procedure costs when able, going to urgent care or their PCP vs running to the ER, etc. When you are spending your own money vs someone else's, it's amazing how much more frugal people are. It's easy to run to the dr for every little cough when you only had to pay $5, 10, 20 in a co-pay, but people forgot the second part of that and the $150 or whatever that the plan pays. Now, if $170 is coming out of your HSA, well, you might wait a day more to see if you really need to go to the dr.