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All health insurance is getting worse by the year.
Health insurance had declined significantly (higher rates, lousier coverage) for at least five years before ACA.
Yep.
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ACA slowed and stabilized the decline, despite those who think it was the cause of the problems. Its effects are fading and we are facing a truly ugly situation in the next five years.
Nope, the ACA exacerbated the decline...primarily by forcing everyone to buy insurance. When everyone has to buy it, the insurance companies no longer have any incentive to make their product attractive at an affordable price. It was no surprise to me that insurance rates (for my company, and most other places I've looked) nearly doubled the year after the mandate went into effect.
Is it just me or is all health insurance including employer provided ones getting worse by the year. My current company switched to a new provider a while back as the old one quoted them a 25% premium increase. The new provider was still a 8% increase. So I got 8% more taken out of my pay check plus higher deductibles that apply to more things and higher copays (doing the math since my family uses healthcare a fair amount it's about break even to have just paid the 25% more but not my decision).
At what point does the value of health insurance become crap?
At my current income level I would be better off with no health insurance and having using Obamacare assistance in the open market. But thanks to federal rules I can't when I'm offered "affordable" employee insurance.
On the same note several job offers I have had included no benefits at all or even worse health insurance. I passed on them but given my recent experience maybe I shouldn't have.
All of it seems untenable in the future.
So any thoughts on the future of employee health insurance.
How many employees does your company have? I ask because usually small biz <100 workers mostly opts for (EXPENSIVE) plans where the provider pays benefits. Larger companies are self-insured and just use the provider's NETWORK to pay pre-negotiated amounts, but the benefits are paid by your employer. Saves money in the long run, since the insurer is making money off the fact that you're not funding your employees' claims. This can be offered to employees at lower rates, and appear as "better" insurance (cheaper premiums)
...In your case if you take a job with no healthcare, the problem is that you will also need to have a small salary, because even with Obamacare insurance is not cheap unless you get a low-income subsidy.
Indeed, the group most hurt by Obamacare was persons with a decent income (above the subsidy-threshold) who don't have workplace coverage; for example, independent consultants, or early-retirees who live off of their investments.
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Originally Posted by RationalExpectations
The real issue is how do we constrain that $10,000 in health care expenditures on average across the nation.
That's exactly right! If we really do consume $10K/person/year ($3.3 Trillion?) in healthcare expenditures, then somebody will have to pay that $10K... the employer, the individual, or the taxpayer.
This whole Obamacare debate is a distraction and a red-herring. The real problem is the overall high cost of healthcare. Everything else is the proverbial rearranging of the deck-chairs.
We can conceivably institute a public healthcare system, but if costs don't markedly decrease, taxes will rise. We can force (or incentivize) employers to offer better coverage, but then salaries will fall (or consumer prices will rise). Or we have the current "solution", where individuals pay more, out-of-pocket.
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Originally Posted by East of the River
it is pretax but thanks to the new tax laws my lower income and number of kids it doesn't matter I essentially pay zero federal taxes.
With a larger family, your overall tax-burden is lower. Just imagine your tax-bill with the same income but no children and no spouse!
If your present income is only incrementally above the Obamacare subsidy threshold, have you considered taking leave-without-pay from work, artificially lowering your salary, to be able to qualify for a healthcare subsidy?
You mean the insurance I have through my employer now? When I go to the ER and get a $1800 bill and have to pay copays?
The first job I started out of college in 2000 where I had two surgeries and one visit to the ER until 2004 and never ever received a medical bill in the mail.
You mean the insurance I have through my employer now? When I go to the ER and get a $1800 bill and have to pay copays?
The first job I started out of college in 2000 where I had two surgeries and one visit to the ER until 2004 and never ever received a medical bill in the mail.
Health care costs are escalating. Let’s not blame this on the insurance companies. My wife’s bills have totaled about 450k since her traumatic brain injury. Thankfully insurance paid 95 percent of it.
This whole Obamacare debate is a distraction and a red-herring. The real problem is the overall high cost of healthcare. Everything else is the proverbial rearranging of the deck-chairs.
Yes, that's exactly right as well.
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