Colorado Health Insurance rates about to soar

[Vision67]

It seems to me that health insurance for individual policies has reached the predicted death spiral.

Rates skyrocket, healthy people bail out, sick ones that prevail push rates higher...repeat.

Crazy!

[wanneroo]

Originally Posted by interloper1138

While I don't really want to get into a political debate, I was and am a big proponent of single-payer healthcare (though I remain undecided on Amendment 69 for several reasons, many of which have been discussed at length in the other thread) and this only adds fuel to my fire for wanting to get rid of this nightmare of a healthcare system that we have in the US. I'd be happy with paying this same amount if I knew it meant that any and all procedures, tests, doctor's vists, etc were covered for myself and my neighbors. What exists now is just a mess. I understand the logic behind the health insurance mandate, but we're beginning to see the unintended consequences of the ACA.

Health care was and is fine when government doesn't meddle in it. No different from anything else in the marketplace that is a good and service we consume. Only the market can rapidly respond to new product demand and development and a changing marketplace. Once Medicare was created about 50 years ago it's been downhill slide ever since.

The end goal of obamacare was to complicate it so much and make it so expensive people like yourself bite the hook and seek to double down and add even more government to health care. Single payer aint free, aint cheap and is always behind the times on the latest technology.

The reason I know we don't need government in our business is because when I pay cash to medical providers to me, I get better prices and no one has to fill out all the paperwork BS.

Why people think a mindless, slow government bureaucracy is going to provide faster, better service at a cheaper price is beyond me. It never has and never will.

[wanneroo]

Originally Posted by smdensbcs

Self-employed and insurance rates for a completely healthy family of 4 is up to 10K/year. We each average 1-2 doctor visits a year, max. It was going up 10-15 percent a year before the ACA and that pace has increased. Its really stunning. I mean just ... stunning. I'm beginning to factor health insurance costs into charitable giving because I can only really grasp the expense of it if I think of it as mandatory charitable giving. My family's costs have doubled or more to allow other's costs to go down through subsidies and the insurance companies just continue raking it in hand over fist.

Fortunately in my profession I have a fairly high number of very wealthy doctor clients so I can ... ahem ... pass the cost of their horrendous system right back at em. God forbid anybody ever gets sick or hurt. Just the thought alone generated a hospital bill of several thousand dollars.

I don't think the insurance companies are raking it in considering how many of them are bailing out of health insurance all together.

In the end leftists/liberals/utopians need to understand something called math. There is no free ride, no utopia. Someone must pay. Pretty soon in this country the freeloaders will outnumber the payers and the whole thing will collapse. Medicare goes bust in 7 years, Social Security not long after that, obamacare is already bust as state exchanges collapse. $20 Trillion in debt and well, the party is coming to an end.

[freewest]

Originally Posted by Vision67

Individual health insurance policies are quickly becoming unaffordable to those who receive no subsidy.

Solutions?

Yeah, stop the subsidies. Every subsidized industry (health care, education, etc.) has annual rates of inflation that are many times the rate if inflation for every thing else.

[parfleche]

The price of ins for me is unaffordable so I have none,I don't pay the fine either why everyone else does is a mystery to me I'd rather go fishing or sew my pants.

[Vision67]

Originally Posted by parfleche

The price of ins for me is unaffordable so I have none,I don't pay the fine either why everyone else does is a mystery to me I'd rather go fishing or sew my pants.

When/if you file your income tax, the IRS will gladly impose the fine.

[parfleche]

self employed they cant.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by parfleche

The price of ins for me is unaffordable so I have none,I don't pay the fine either why everyone else does is a mystery to me I'd rather go fishing or sew my pants.

Same here... (when our monthly premium went from $350 to $1700)
Options:
1) Medivacations to Thailand or Malaysia as Europe has done for 50 yrs.
2) Health cost sharing networks (4 in USA are legal alternatives to Obamacare)
3) be lucky - healthy and no accidents

[Greentea323]

I'm not surprised. It gets worse each year, that is, if you are even able to effectively enroll with CFHC or view your account without the, "technical error please call 1800 blah and speak with a representative in Texas or Alabama who can do absolutely nothing to fix the problem."

My husband works for a small 3 person company. All 3 pay $$$$ for CFHC's awful high deductible and high premium plans that offer almost nothing. Obviously he could switch jobs, but loves it, so isn't going to. But, things were easier before the ACA for our health insurance needs (read non smokers who aren't overweight and under 40...I'm not even 25) who rarely require medical attention.

We'll be lucky if we can logon and choose a policy this year. I'm not hopeful and have been looking at Christian, ", sharing," programs until this mess is over.

I get wanting diabetics, cancer patients, etc. to not be denied coverage. But, we paid significantly less for more benefits that included dental in 2010/2012. Maybe it's helped some, but it's made our lives harder and more stressful just dealing with CFHC and added more tax issues.

On the months we weren't able to gain coverage thanks to CFHC's website, I just selected, " plan was unaffordable," for taxes, but I'm sure in 5 years we'll get a nice bill for that if things don't change.

[Stevedore]

I'm lucky...good paying union job with great benefits, #blessed.