MNsure Exec Steps Down. :) (subsidized, tax, living)

[rzzz]

There are hardly any private practices in Minnesota. There are fewer than 30 family doctors in Minnesota who are not employees of a managed care system.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by golfgal

Where did he say your rates would go down?

Shop your plans to other companies. BC/BS has always been the most expensive in MN, or at least for the past 15 years or so...and $12,000/year for a family plan is pretty average....

B.S. Maybe this coming year but surely not last year. Mine were $9K. That was over the top. How many families can shell out $12K for premiums PLUS a $4800 deductible? Watch the emergency rooms fill up as people stop paying for clinic visits (the clinics will stop seeing them when families cannot afford the premiums AND the super high deductibles).

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by rzzz

There are hardly any private practices in Minnesota. There are fewer than 30 family doctors in Minnesota who are not employees of a managed care system.

But there are many smaller groups. When I think "HMO's" I think BIG groups.

[rzzz]

There are 300 total health care groups in Minnesota. Southern MN is dominated by Mayo. Northern MN splits between Altru and Sanford. Most of the other general groups are relatively large. There are a handful of small groups of specialists (derm, sports med, spine) and boutique groups who cater to the very rich in the Metro area. Nearly all of the small clinics who catered to average people sold out to a larger group in the 1990s.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised

B.S. Maybe this coming year but surely not last year. Mine were $9K. That was over the top. How many families can shell out $12K for premiums PLUS a $4800 deductible? Watch the emergency rooms fill up as people stop paying for clinic visits (the clinics will stop seeing them when families cannot afford the premiums AND the super high deductibles).

If you saw what most people paid for insurance you wouldn't be even bothered by this. Your 12K premium with REALLY low out of pocket costs is NOT a bad deal. In MN typically for that premium cost you would see a minimum of 6K for a deductible...and you are with the more expensive co in MN. You also have to remember that most people have an employer sponsored plan and that employer pays 50%+ of the premium--so with your plan, you are paying both sides. I do know when we had individual plans our monthly premiums were about $600/month for a family of 5 with a $6000 out of pocket max. This was 3 years ago. In a quick check with Health Partners, can get the same basic policy for not a whole lot more....

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by rzzz

There are hardly any private practices in Minnesota. There are fewer than 30 family doctors in Minnesota who are not employees of a managed care system.

I believe this is made up nonsense but will retract my statement if you will link to a reliable source for this information. If it is true, then I know over 10% of them.

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by golfgal

If you saw what most people paid for insurance you wouldn't be even bothered by this. Your 12K premium with REALLY low out of pocket costs is NOT a bad deal. In MN typically for that premium cost you would see a minimum of 6K for a deductible...and you are with the more expensive co in MN. You also have to remember that most people have an employer sponsored plan and that employer pays 50%+ of the premium--so with your plan, you are paying both sides. I do know when we had individual plans our monthly premiums were about $600/month for a family of 5 with a $6000 out of pocket max. This was 3 years ago. In a quick check with Health Partners, can get the same basic policy for not a whole lot more....

Maybe he's bothered because Obama promised his premiums would go down by $2500. You did see where he promised that, right?

[rzzz]

Originally Posted by Glenfield

I believe this is made up nonsense but will retract my statement if you will link to a reliable source for this information. If it is true, then I know over 10% of them.

"The pressures have hit solo practitioners in Minnesota particularly hard, says Virginia Barzan, executive vice president at the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians. In 2008, the latest year for which the academy has data, only 36 members remained in solo practices; in 1990, there were 89. By 2008, the share of members in solo practices was just 2.4 percent versus 17.6 percent nationally."

Minnesota's independent doctors are in critical condition | MinnPost

One can get more up to date data about these topics, but it costs money.

The article is a pretty good overview of the state of independent practitioners in Minnesota.

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by rzzz

"The pressures have hit solo practitioners in Minnesota particularly hard, says Virginia Barzan, executive vice president at the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians. In 2008, the latest year for which the academy has data, only 36 members remained in solo practices; in 1990, there were 89. By 2008, the share of members in solo practices was just 2.4 percent versus 17.6 percent nationally."

Minnesota's independent doctors are in critical condition | MinnPost

One can get more up to date data about these topics, but it costs money.

The article is a pretty good overview of the state of independent practitioners in Minnesota.

You assume that any doctor who is not a solo practioner is an employee of a managed care group. This is a false dichotomy. There are many other forms of practices such as partnerships and independent practices. Those doctors may be affiliated with a larger group but are not employees of the managed care group. For example, mydoctor owns a 15 physician practice with one other partner. The other 13 docs are employees of their practice. They are affiliated with a large hospital group, largely for medial records purposes, but they are not employees of it.

But we are getting off the topic of what a disaster MNSure has been.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by golfgal

If you saw what most people paid for insurance you wouldn't be even bothered by this. Your 12K premium with REALLY low out of pocket costs is NOT a bad deal. In MN typically for that premium cost you would see a minimum of 6K for a deductible...and you are with the more expensive co in MN. You also have to remember that most people have an employer sponsored plan and that employer pays 50%+ of the premium--so with your plan, you are paying both sides. I do know when we had individual plans our monthly premiums were about $600/month for a family of 5 with a $6000 out of pocket max. This was 3 years ago. In a quick check with Health Partners, can get the same basic policy for not a whole lot more....

You are talking in circles and continue to miss the big point. Last year I paid $2500 less and I was lied to that my premiums were going to drop. Smart people who understand basic economics knew his plan was going to increase people premiums in order to pay for people who didn't have insurance.

I paid about $9 GRAND in premiums last year and $4800 in deductibles. I hit that deductible a couple of times (broken bones for my son). Shelling out a total of $14K is painful for nearly every family that lives in this state. It just got $2500 worse. There is ONE reason why I am paying $2500 more and I am p_issed: It's called Obama Care. The system was absolutely broke and his team of idiots figured out a way to make it worse. I despise him for that and every other idiot who voted for this plan. They are financial dimwits. I'm not any happier with the other side of the isle. They "fixed" the system by further ruining it.

Of course there are people who paid $12K last year. They are either older, have more people in their family, or were higher risk. But people in my shoes (age, risk, and family size) ALL paid a lot less last year. The "average" family didn't pay anywhere near $12K last year. Truth be told, many "average" families went without healthcare. They paid zero in healthcare.

GG. Do you work for MNsure? Because I don't see the logic in trying to minimize how much this is screwed up by constant counter arguments. "You waited to long to apply" or "other websites go down like Target" or "that $12K in premiums is a nothing-burger" or "gee, I easily did 5 applications".

I got to the finish line on the MNsure application last night and got ALL of the personal info logged. The piece of crap site locked up. IT LOCKED UP!!!!!! Solution: Call up their 2.5 hour wait time support line. More people need to be fired. In 2013, there is no excuses for such a failed roll-out.