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Old 10-27-2014, 11:24 AM
 
Location: Buffalo
165 posts, read 169,272 times
Reputation: 451

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Got health insurance at work? You may still have to shell out thousands of dollars before it kicks in
That's because more employers are offering consumer-directed health plans, which usually come with high deductibles. In 2015, 81% of large employers will offer at least one of these plans, up from 63% five years earlier
Consumer-directed plans typically carry deductibles of $1,500 for individual coverage, more than three times higher than traditional policies, according to the National Business Group on Health.
And these plans will be the only choice for a growing number of workers. The share of larger employers offering only consumer-directed policies is jumping to 32% for 2015, up from 22% this year.
Deductibles are soaring for traditional insurance policies, too.
Deductibles for individual coverage at all firms have jumped to $1,217, on average, up 47% over the past five years, according to the 2014 Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research & Educational Trust report. In high-deductible plans, they have hit $2,215
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Old 10-27-2014, 12:03 PM
 
Location: Sugarmill Woods , FL
6,234 posts, read 8,405,072 times
Reputation: 13809
Crap insurance is worth what you pay for it. A very telling indicator as to how much the companies that are doing this REALLY value their employees! Just like ANYTHING, good coverage costs more than insurance plans that have high deductibles, just the same as car insurance does!
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Old 10-27-2014, 12:25 PM
 
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,298 posts, read 80,577,144 times
Reputation: 57283
Yes, the high-deductible plans are very common now, and for us, the annual deductible is $2,800 for family in 2015
though our share of the premiums is only $65/month. It's still costing my employer $1,900/year, plus the $1,000 seed money they give us for the Health Savings Account in January for completing a wellness incentive program. Even after the deductible is met the insurance only pays 80% up to an annual out-of-pocket maximum of $6,000.

Our actual cost so far in 2014 is about $2,000 while in 2013 before the ACA it was less than $200. I still prefer this to the co-pay plan they offer which is an HMO 1/2 hour away and appointments take a lot longer to get.
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Old 10-27-2014, 12:30 PM
 
18,512 posts, read 15,494,002 times
Reputation: 16193
Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Feltser View Post
Got health insurance at work? You may still have to shell out thousands of dollars before it kicks in
That's because more employers are offering consumer-directed health plans, which usually come with high deductibles. In 2015, 81% of large employers will offer at least one of these plans, up from 63% five years earlier
Consumer-directed plans typically carry deductibles of $1,500 for individual coverage, more than three times higher than traditional policies, according to the National Business Group on Health.
And these plans will be the only choice for a growing number of workers. The share of larger employers offering only consumer-directed policies is jumping to 32% for 2015, up from 22% this year.
Deductibles are soaring for traditional insurance policies, too.
Deductibles for individual coverage at all firms have jumped to $1,217, on average, up 47% over the past five years, according to the 2014 Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research & Educational Trust report. In high-deductible plans, they have hit $2,215
This is a GOOD thing. The whole point of insurance (of any kind, business, car, home, health, disability, life) is to protect you from the financial impact of a catastrophe you aren't expecting and can't afford. Not to subsidize ordinary, mundane expenses such as some perfectly manageable and reasonable doctor bills!

If you want "insurance" to cover everything, you'll end up paying MORE in the long run, since you have to pay higher premiums not only for the health care cost itself, but for the increased overhead resulting from middle-men and bureaucracy costs...

Low deductibles are a colossal waste of money in the long run, especially once you factor in just how much staff and how many hours in a medical clinic are spent on billing insurance for reimbursement. If the patient just freaking paid for it, you'd avoid all the nonsense!
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Old 10-27-2014, 01:07 PM
 
18,792 posts, read 8,409,237 times
Reputation: 4125
Quote:
Originally Posted by ncole1 View Post
Low deductibles are a colossal waste of money in the long run, especially once you factor in just how much staff and how many hours in a medical clinic are spent on billing insurance for reimbursement. If the patient just freaking paid for it, you'd avoid all the nonsense!
Not necessarily, especially if you know more than the insurance company, and the rates are favorable.
As in our AZ Obamacare plan. Our platinum plan had much lower deductibles and OOP's than the bronze, but without much of a premium increase over bronze. So the OOP's for my knee surgery and my wife's colonoscopy including premiums was drastically lower than what one would expect. Maybe they goofed in setting the rates the first year. We will soon see next years rates.
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Old 10-27-2014, 01:25 PM
 
7,908 posts, read 9,108,438 times
Reputation: 9264
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hemlock140 View Post
Yes, the high-deductible plans are very common now, and for us, the annual deductible is $2,800 for family in 2015
though our share of the premiums is only $65/month. It's still costing my employer $1,900/year, plus the $1,000 seed money they give us for the Health Savings Account in January for completing a wellness incentive program. Even after the deductible is met the insurance only pays 80% up to an annual out-of-pocket maximum of $6,000.

Our actual cost so far in 2014 is about $2,000 while in 2013 before the ACA it was less than $200. I still prefer this to the co-pay plan they offer which is an HMO 1/2 hour away and appointments take a lot longer to get.
$2800 family deductible with $65 per month premium is fabulous. I'll trade you my non HSA compatible Obamacare Exchange Silver plan with 4K deductible 12K out of pocket max and $1100 per month deductible for it
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Old 10-27-2014, 03:50 PM
 
14,249 posts, read 17,879,025 times
Reputation: 13807
The problem is that even a fairly straightforward set of tests can eat into your deductible. I was sent for a nuclear cardiac stress test a couple of years ago. Total cost after all the bills were in was around $6,500 My deductible was around $2,500 ( I have the 'middle deductible' plan that my employer offers). If I had the high deductible then I would have ended up paying all of that $6,500. And this patient is very glad he did not "just freaking" pay for it.

So, yes, you can easily pay out thousands before the insurance kicks in.
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Old 10-27-2014, 03:53 PM
 
Location: San Jose
574 posts, read 694,887 times
Reputation: 732
Agreed with ncole1 that this is a good thing. Your premiums are less on a high-deductible plan, so you (usually) end up spending less in overall healthcare costs.
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Old 10-27-2014, 04:15 PM
 
14,249 posts, read 17,879,025 times
Reputation: 13807
Quote:
Originally Posted by RecentGrad1 View Post
Agreed with ncole1 that this is a good thing. Your premiums are less on a high-deductible plan, so you (usually) end up spending less in overall healthcare costs.
That depends entirely on your age and your health. And even then, you are not immune from accidents. For example, suppose you tear your ACL playing tennis or skiing. By the time you have paid for doctors, scans, knee braces, possibly surgery, etc. etc., with a high deductible plan you are thousands of dollars out of pocket.
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Old 10-27-2014, 04:21 PM
 
Location: San Jose
574 posts, read 694,887 times
Reputation: 732
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jaggy001 View Post
That depends entirely on your age and your health. And even then, you are not immune from accidents. For example, suppose you tear your ACL paying tennis or skiing. By the time you have paid for doctors, scans, knee braces, possibly surgery, etc. etc., with a high deductible plan you are thousands of dollars out of pocket.
And, on average, you saved more than that amount out of your premiums.

Insurance is supposed to cover you in face of something you could not otherwise afford. The only real reason to buy a plan other than a high-deductible plan is either:
  1. Your risk profile is higher than would be expected for your age group
  2. You're living paycheck to paycheck.
A plan with a $25K+ deductible would work great for me, for example. I have much more than that saved, and I'm very healthy male at age of 24.
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