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Old 12-02-2012, 09:00 AM
 
69 posts, read 303,183 times
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Next year's insurance bill will increase 20% & deductible will increase from $1000 to $2000. What's the reason for this? Is this due to the 2009 health reform?


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Old 12-02-2012, 09:06 AM
 
Location: Tricity, PL
61,119 posts, read 85,934,275 times
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Sure. If you want to cover everybody - you need to raise the premiums and deductibles.
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Old 12-02-2012, 09:37 AM
 
Location: Houston, TX
469 posts, read 1,095,329 times
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Maybe. Maybe not. Premiums are calculated based off of the amount they had to pay out in the previous year and what they estimate they will payout I the current plan year. If your company plan had several cathostropic payouts or a high number of births this past year, it would increase the premiums.

My plan has increases less than 1% with no major plan changes for for the past two years.
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Old 12-02-2012, 10:14 AM
 
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Both are right. But certainly with the recent changes and future changes in healthcare policy where more people and more procedures are inclusive, no max limits, etc, it will only go up unless someone else like your employer or gov pays for it. Starting next year, there will be a 3% medical device tax and my friends who are in the field say they will likely increase their prices slightly to cover that. I also noticed a 10% increase each year for the past 3 years so I switched plans this year.
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Old 12-02-2012, 11:11 AM
 
1,475 posts, read 2,758,052 times
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My premiums also went up 20% for the coming year. Just got the letter. In fact, they have gone up 3 years in a row while also raising my deductibles. I'm a healthy male in perfect shape, don't smoke, no pre-existing, no history of any ailments in my family. I currently have Blue Cross Blue Shield. Those of you who claim to have cheap rates or whose coverage is not going up, please state who your insurance company is. I'll call them.

While we are at it, why don't we put what we are paying out there so we can see who actually does offer good rates. Fair enough?

I currently pay about $202 a month with a 1750 deductible. Starting in January it's going up to $235 or so with the same deductible. I have $30 co-pays.
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Old 12-02-2012, 11:38 AM
 
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Mine went up but not enough to care about. I've been to the doctor once in 10 yrs.
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Old 12-02-2012, 12:22 PM
 
Location: Tennessee
10,688 posts, read 7,648,310 times
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Default Coverage for everybody = increased premiums

Quote:
Originally Posted by elnina View Post
Sure. If you want to cover everybody - you need to raise the premiums and deductibles.
Not necessarily, elnina, I worked in the insurance business for over 30 years as an underwriter, ratemaker, and compliance officer. When you increase the total pool of insureds, you pick up plenty of people that are healthier and won't use their insurance as much while also increasing the total dollars being pulled in.

What would really make a difference is to require all health insurors to have a "basic" set of coverages which everyone would have to buy, while tiering up additional coverages in packages (all the same by all insurers) which people could buy at their discretion. All insurers would have to offer the basic set of coverages to anyone who wished to purchase them--regardless of health condition, AND at the same price for everybody.
Insurors would pool their statistical data and the cost of basic coverage would only go up when the price rose for everyone in that gigantic pool. This eliminates the profit motive of "cherry-picking" which insurors routinely engage in.

Additional, optional packages could be purchased regardless of which "basic" set of coverage an individual had, and insurers could underwrite those freely. Cherry-pick their hearts out.

Insurors would be adamantly opposed to such a move because they are in the business of maximizing profit for shareholders and increasing bonuses to executives. This move would flatten out profits considerably even though it would provide much more stability for the companies.

Incidentally, the same kind of thing was once proposed (by some actuaries, I believe) for "basic" auto liability insurance in the United States. The United States would require some basic coverage for all gasoline or diesel powered vehicles, say 25,000 per person, 50,000 per accident and 25,000 property damage. The cost of such would be levied on gasoline and diesel pumps while allowing insurance companies to "bid" on covering pumps in various regions of the country. They would be recipients of the "tax" if you would, and would provide the coverage. Losses and profit would be "divided" among the companies based on the percentage of pumps covered in a region. Then companies could offer increased liability limits to anyone who wished to pay for them. Coverage would be beyond the basic limits covered at gas pumps, and would be underwritten by insurance companies and at the option of individuals.

Of course, any vehicle protection such as comprehensive or collision coverage would still be the responsibility of the individual auto owner to purchase from the insurance company of their choice.

The auto liability proposal would also make so much sense. We all pay an high premium for "uninsured motorists" coverage because of the many people that simply won't purchase basic liability coverage except at the time they renew their auto registration. Then they promptly drop it.

Yes, the cost of gasoline would rise, but you wouldn't have to pay for "basic" auto insurance liability. People who drive more would pay more for the insurance portion, but statistically more miles driven = increased likelyhood of accidents. It would encourage the purchase of better mileage vehicles, and EVERYONE would be paying for coverage which spreads the total cost of basic liability insurance over a much greater pool of folks.

It makes sense, but the insurance companies are all concerned that they won't be able to measure their profitabilty as easily as they do now. Our Congressmen are too far into the pockets of both health and auto insurers to ever consider an answer that would ultimately decrease costs for all Americans.
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Old 12-02-2012, 03:49 PM
 
Location: Houston, TX (Bellaire)
4,900 posts, read 13,669,166 times
Reputation: 4186
My health insurance has gone up significantly every year for the last 10 years. They don't need an excuse.
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Old 12-02-2012, 03:53 PM
 
Location: Austin, Texas
1,985 posts, read 3,300,242 times
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How about the fact that the US has gotten to be so fat? Not to mention our rapidly aging population. 'Merica.
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Old 12-02-2012, 06:17 PM
 
1,534 posts, read 3,478,320 times
Reputation: 1296
Quote:
Originally Posted by jek74 View Post
My premiums also went up 20% for the coming year. Just got the letter. In fact, they have gone up 3 years in a row while also raising my deductibles. I'm a healthy male in perfect shape, don't smoke, no pre-existing, no history of any ailments in my family. I currently have Blue Cross Blue Shield. Those of you who claim to have cheap rates or whose coverage is not going up, please state who your insurance company is. I'll call them.

While we are at it, why don't we put what we are paying out there so we can see who actually does offer good rates. Fair enough?

I currently pay about $202 a month with a 1750 deductible. Starting in January it's going up to $235 or so with the same deductible. I have $30 co-pays.
That's more like 15% increase. Use ehealthinsurance.com to compare with other companies.
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