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Oh ok. Money received back from the insurance company is a rebate.
Sorry..thought you were talking about the premium subsidies.
My company got the rebate for us and told us they were going to apply it to next year.
That was last year. They never told us how much though. Never saw any details.
Last year we got $13. back.
The company reduced our premium one week by that amount soon after.
Another consequence of the ACA jacking up rate even if you have employer coverage is this
If you have dependents. And your employer premiums went up 93%. Even if they subsidize you 79%.
They may subsidize your dependents 50%? 30%? Worst case is offer your dependents coverage with 0% subsidy. Regardless you will feel major effect. Cause your monthly premiums snowball even more the more mouths you have to feed.
Even if you make less than 400% of poverty you cAnnot qualify for subsides on the exchanges just because your employer doesn't cover enough of your kids premiums.
My employer dropped any working spouse from coverage.
Last year you could put her on your plan if that's what you chose to do.
The insurance companies have to have pools of money to pay out.
No more lifetime caps means people can go into tens of millions in care costs and the insurance has to pick up that tab. The more chronically ill a provider covers the bigger that pool has to be.
All this "free" preventative care isn't free. Someone has to pay the doctors and pharmacies.
The problem is that the cost of health care is going up only a small amount and most of that is the expansion of medicaid. The insurance companies have to pay out 80% of what they take in which is more than they used to pay out.
So where are excessive premiums going? They can't keep them and they are not in the health care total cost. The most rational explanation is that they don't exist. Increased cost in one area is offset mostly by decreased cost in others. Otherwise it does not compute.
I would like to sincerely ask Forum members exactly why we connect the health of our citizens to insurance corporations. Whether people live or die should not be a product available only to the wealthy. Coverage for medical needs should not be determined by complex, byzantine, and ultimately heartless rules established by actuaries and accountants. Nor should it be the function of a massive governmental bureaucracy in charge of operating hospitals, employing physicians, and producing medical equipment, supplies, and drugs.
Government does have a role to play, of course, but not involvement in the delivery of services or payment for medical services. It should instead assume the responsibility for setting reasonable cost levels for drugs, medical procedures, and hospital services. These levels should be reviewed annually and scrupulously observed. This will take insurance companies and their obscene profit margins and barbaric rules which punish people for getting sick out of the medical field, and require our medical professionals to function within reasonable limits while permitting to concentrate on patient care instead of serving their current masters, the health insurance companies.
Americans should insist that drug companies, hospitals, and pharmacies operate at a reasonable, modest profit with the focus on service and the health of our people. Doctors, dentists, nurses, and other health professionals should earn a comfortable return, but no more, as a result of their years of training and expertise.
The recent Obamacare debacle of turning over the national healthcare system lock stock and barrel to the insurance industry while punishing middle-class taxpayers with the responsibility to insure the previously uninsurable through high premiums, high deductibles, and exorbitant out-of-pocket levels, should make some facts obvious to any thinking person. The ACA is deeply flawed and holds the seeds of its own demise as premiums (inevitably will) rise. The previously existing status quo system apparently favored by the Republicans, with its cancellations and restrictions and refusal to cover people with previously existing medical conditions, is equally flawed and essentially inhumane.
It is time for real change in the way American people are medically diagnosed, treated and cared for. In this wealthy and comfortable country, this should no longer be considered a political question. It is rather a matter of our common humanity, and our attitude toward our families, our friends, and all of our fellow citizens.
The problem is that the cost of health care is going up only a small amount and most of that is the expansion of medicaid. The insurance companies have to pay out 80% of what they take in which is more than they used to pay out.
So where are excessive premiums going? They can't keep them and they are not in the health care total cost. The most rational explanation is that they don't exist. Increased cost in one area is offset mostly by decreased cost in others. Otherwise it does not compute.
To pay for all these "free" services now.
They weren't free before..you had to pay.
Now they are "free" to you but the doctors, dentists and everyone else still needs to get paid.
I would like to sincerely ask Forum members exactly why we connect the health of our citizens to insurance corporations. Whether people live or die should not be a product available only to the wealthy. Coverage for medical needs should not be determined by complex, byzantine, and ultimately heartless rules established by actuaries and accountants. Nor should it be the function of a massive governmental bureaucracy in charge of operating hospitals, employing physicians, and producing medical equipment, supplies, and drugs.
Government does have a role to play, of course, but not involvement in the delivery of services or payment for medical services. It should instead assume the responsibility for setting reasonable cost levels for drugs, medical procedures, and hospital services. These levels should be reviewed annually and scrupulously observed. This will take insurance companies and their obscene profit margins and barbaric rules which punish people for getting sick out of the medical field, and require our medical professionals to function within reasonable limits while permitting to concentrate on patient care instead of serving their current masters, the health insurance companies.
Americans should insist that drug companies, hospitals, and pharmacies operate at a reasonable, modest profit with the focus on service and the health of our people. Doctors, dentists, nurses, and other health professionals should earn a comfortable return, but no more, as a result of their years of training and expertise.
The recent Obamacare debacle of turning over the national healthcare system lock stock and barrel to the insurance industry while punishing middle-class taxpayers with the responsibility to insure the previously uninsurable through high premiums, high deductibles, and exorbitant out-of-pocket levels, should make some facts obvious to any thinking person. The ACA is deeply flawed and holds the seeds of its own demise as premiums (inevitably will) rise. The previously existing status quo system apparently favored by the Republicans, with its cancellations and restrictions and refusal to cover people with previously existing medical conditions, is equally flawed and essentially inhumane.
It is time for real change in the way American people are medically diagnosed, treated and cared for. In this wealthy and comfortable country, this should no longer be considered a political question. It is rather a matter of our common humanity, and our attitude toward our families, our friends, and all of our fellow citizens.
I didn't read past, "I would like to sincerely ask Forum members exactly why we connect the health of our citizens to insurance corporations."
Why don't we turn our life insurance and our car insurance and our home insurance over to a fed gov't agency?
Let me ask YOU a question. Exactly why we connect our health of our citizens to mechanics who take care of the brakes on our cars?
The life of our families is much MORE important then trusting some "grease monkey".
Maybe we should turn ALL mechanical work over to a fed gov't agency.
I didn't read past, "I would like to sincerely ask Forum members exactly why we connect the health of our citizens to insurance corporations."
Why don't we turn our life insurance and our car insurance and our home insurance over to a fed gov't agency?
Let me ask YOU a question. Exactly why we connect our health of our citizens to mechanics who take care of the brakes on our cars?
The life of our families is much MORE important then trusting some "grease monkey".
Maybe we should turn ALL mechanical work over to a fed gov't agency.
If you had read further, you would have noted that I am not advocating turning over healthcare to the government. The only involvement I see for the Feds is in setting standard costs and charges, which is the practice in many countries. Think of the FAA, the Interstate Commerce Commission, etc.
Far from accepting your analogy of the government controlling what gets fixed on your car, I am tempted to ask whether you would prefer that insurance companies determine whether or not your car needs brakes or an oil change. But I will resist that temptation and ask that you re-read my entire post...
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