Increase of Health Insurance Cost & Plan Changes - Huntsville (2014, how much)

[macwell]

What do you pay for your health insurance?

Has health insurance cost increased or changed at your company in Huntsville?

A friend at a mid-large company in Huntsville said they are starting to get 'notified' of upcoming health insurance cost and plan changes. Based on discussions among groups, many are still in the process to find out details.

A few examples-
1-Deductibles increasing min., exp. $500 min to $3000 min.
2-Premiums increasing, up 35-50% per paycheck
3-CoPayments, paid after the deductible has been met and then at a certain percentage (same for prescriptions)
4-Overall provision deductible decrease by 5-10%
5-Various 'standard' health items are no longer covered.

Employees are expressing the concerns of coverage cost, but what is to come in 2014 when new health care insurance comes law? Not only are the premiums increasing, but now out-of-pocket cost for doctor visits. This does not include items not to be covered. CoPayment coverage is for all purposes gone.

Nice chunk of change cut out of each paycheck going to health insurance now, seems the larger the family worse it gets especially if you make frequent doctor visits or have monthly prescriptions. Paycheck sliced!

What are other Huntsville companies doing with their health insurance?

[brianjb]

Sounds like your friend may work where I do. I got email notification this week, with a letter in the mail explaining my new "benefits". I haven't looked at the premium prices, but the highlights are scary.

Like you mentioned:
-high deductible (I am thinking $2000 per person or something like that)
-I have to pay for all of the prescription costs (so no more $15 co pay....in my family we have three regularly filled prescriptions), pay the whole doctor visit out of pocket until I reach deductible

So looks like we will be paying out the nose for premiums monthly, and our benefit will be that we have to pay for doctor visits and prescriptions out of pocket as well?

Not a happy camper here!

[bmrisko]

There's the change that so many Americans wanted in 2008!

[brianjb]

Originally Posted by bmrisko

There's the change that so many Americans wanted in 2008!

That's not change, that's more of the same...lol

This will be an interesting election.

I feel like I am being penalized today. I worked hard, put myself through college, have a good job. Why is that my fault?

Maybe I would have better health insurance if I didn't have a job....

[BMW Dave]

I find this all very interesting. I hear a lot about people's insurance going up.

I mean the affordable care act was passed to help people?? But health insurance costs have been skyrocketing for well over 20yrs, so how is this different that every year in the past?

One thing that I find odd, is that my rates haven't changed.

I have BCBS, I have had it continuously since I was born. I have TOTAL BLUE now and haven't received any email about any changes coming up. I did call them and they said as far as they know my coverage isn't changing?

Lastly I pay well under what my Fiance would pay if she got similar coverage at her office. Even when I was younger (Under 25) the place I worked at had HIGH monthly premiums and TERRIBLE coverage compared to the BCBS I had under my dad (Federal).

I literally pay $70 less a month for the same coverage that my Fiance would pay for at her office, if she got it, (she is still 23).

But most importantly, if when we get married we get a family plan our monthly costs will double for the both of us! SO as far as I can tell it is cheaper for me and her personally to have individual coverage plans.

Lastly like most of you, we won't be having kids, so hopefully that will help keep LOTS of costs down for us!

[BMW Dave]

Originally Posted by brianjb

Maybe I would have better health insurance if I didn't have a job....

I wouldn't advise it!

[writerwife]

Originally Posted by brianjb

That's not change, that's more of the same...lol

Maybe I would have better health insurance if I didn't have a job....

Atlas is shrugging.

[brianjb]

Originally Posted by BMW Dave

I find this all very interesting. I hear a lot about people's insurance going up.

I mean the affordable care act was passed to help people?? But health insurance costs have been skyrocketing for well over 20yrs, so how is this different that every year in the past?

One thing that I find odd, is that my rates haven't changed.

I have BCBS, I have had it continuously since I was born. I have TOTAL BLUE now and haven't received any email about any changes coming up. I did call them and they said as far as they know my coverage isn't changing?

Lastly I pay well under what my Fiance would pay if she got similar coverage at her office. Even when I was younger (Under 25) the place I worked at had HIGH monthly premiums and TERRIBLE coverage compared to the BCBS I had under my dad (Federal).

I literally pay $70 less a month for the same coverage that my Fiance would pay for at her office, if she got it, (she is still 23).

But most importantly, if when we get married we get a family plan our monthly costs will double for the both of us! SO as far as I can tell it is cheaper for me and her personally to have individual coverage plans.

Lastly like most of you, we won't be having kids, so hopefully that will help keep LOTS of costs down for us!

I have BCBS of Alabama for my coverage (through my employer).

I am going to call them to see how much it would be to get a policy if I went straight through them. I want to see how much it would cost to keep my same level of coverage.

[brianjb]

Originally Posted by BMW Dave

I wouldn't advise it!

No, I like my job. I like paying my mortgage, eating out once in awhile, taking vacations, going on cruises. I give back to the economy when I can.

[DvlsAdvc8]

While everyone likes to blame ACA for recent increases in healthcare costs and their company cutting costs because it fits a narrative they want to tell, the facts are that the growth rate has slowed since the ACA was passed. The rate of healthcare cost growth is actually very low in comparison with the past 10 or so years. I'm not saying that ACA is the reason for this sudden slowdown in cost growth, but it certainly means you can't blame it for what growth persists like some are doing - and honestly most of its provisions haven't even gone into effect yet anyhow.

Cost growth in premiums is also down, this year being the slowest rate of growth in 6 years. In 2012, the average premium increase for large employers was 4.9 percent, down from 8.5 percent in 2011 and 6.2 percent in 2010. There's some debate over whether this is a byproduct of the recession or if healthcare is getting its act together, but previous recessions have shown that the rate of cost growth returns once the economy stops shedding jobs, which this economy stopped doing a long while back even though job growth has been modest. I'm inclined to believe its probably a little bit of both - slow economic growth and measures to hold cost down both public and private.

But to those who already blame ACA, I'm sorry, but it hasn't happened. You'll have to wait a good few years to find out its effect. As an economics and politics junky, I'm already predicting that the recent lower than trend growth might come back and bite ACA in the butt, if after its fully in effect cost growth returns to at or near trend. Conservatives will claim ACA increased the cost-growth rate, when really it means cost-growth stayed the same (which still means ACA wasn't successful, but not more costly), and recent lower rates were more related to the state of the economy than anything else.

Slower Growth in Health Costs Saves U.S. Billions - Bloomberg

Just slowing the growth rate a small amount is a huge savings in and of itself. "In January 2009, the centers projected that expenditures would reach 19.8 percent of gross domestic product in 2017. This year, the projection for 2017 is down to 18.4 percent of GDP. That difference amounts to a whopping $280 billion. In other words, relative to the projections issued three years earlier, today’s forecasts suggest health savings of $3,500 per family of four by 2017."