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I'm self employed and just received my premium rate change notice from Blue Cross Blue Shield. For a HMO with 50% co-pay on prescriptions with no pre existing conditions, it will be bumped up to $732.53/month....that's for 1 person.
I have Oxford, and pay less than $250 month as a 48 year old single woman. I've had it about 6 years, it's gone up about $20 since the first year. It does not cover prescriptions but has no co-pays for Dr visits, diagnostics, etc. I have to pick Dr's in their network.
The easiest way to compare plans is ehealthinsurance.com...
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Originally Posted by taxedtothemax
I'm self employed and just received my premium rate change notice from Blue Cross Blue Shield. For a HMO with 50% co-pay on prescriptions with no pre existing conditions, it will be bumped up to $732.53/month....that's for 1 person.
ocnjgirl's rate seemed promising (oxford seems to be from unitedhealthcare. Dont know much about the plan/insurance co, except from ads)!
taxedtothemax - your higher rate anything to do with your location? Do you have to stay within network, or can you choose from outside?
May be posters can provide their general location (north NJ, central, ..., coastal), name of health insurance company, in/out network option, and age-range (45-50), so others can understand the difference.
I probably need to go play with ehealthinsurance as ocnjgirl suggested, to see what is going on.
I am in South Jersey, age 48. Blue Cross is always one of the most expensive, 10 years ago when I pulled up my comparison chart, Oxford was like $220 and BC was over $500...that's why I went with Oxford, lol. The big difference I think is that with BC you can use any Doc while I have to stay in network (although Oxford has other plans too, my brother had them through his employer and he could go anywhere). Check them all out on ehealthinsurance, and you'll get a side by side comparison of the differences.
Doesn't the federal healthcare law require this -- that everyone would have to be provided coverage? So (at the point that the clause comes into effect) NJ would not be alone in this regard?
NJ is not alone in this regard, there are several states where individual insurance has been guaranteed-issue for years. And yes, that will become the norm due to the health-reform law.
Things will be in serious flux for a while, and insurance will never be cheap. But the good news is that there will be more competition and more healthy people in the pools so over the next decade rates and coverage should stabilize.
I was searching ehealthinsurance website. I could not find a PPO plan with anything greater than $2500 deductible. The site seems to be pretty good, so I am assuming that these High Deductible plans are not very popular or available in NJ? Any idea why?
Maybe people don't want to pay high deductibles, or maybe PPO's aren't usually high deductible plans? Not sure, but mine is not a high deductible, yet I pay only 240/month after having the plan for over 7 years (I am 49, btw).
NJ is not alone in this regard, there are several states where individual insurance has been guaranteed-issue for years. And yes, that will become the norm due to the health-reform law.
Things will be in serious flux for a while, and insurance will never be cheap. But the good news is that there will be more competition and more healthy people in the pools so over the next decade rates and coverage should stabilize.
Well, this is utter nonsense. Government involvement in health care will result in: higher costs, inefficiency, injustice, unfairness, and diminished freedom, along with moving us more along the continuum to European mediocrity. Providing health care or health insurance is not a legitimate function of government in a free society. And the result will be the same here as everywhere else: BAD CARE.
Well, this is utter nonsense. Government involvement in health care will result in: higher costs, inefficiency, injustice, unfairness, and diminished freedom, along with moving us more along the continuum to European mediocrity. Providing health care or health insurance is not a legitimate function of government in a free society. And the result will be the same here as everywhere else: BAD CARE.
I think you misunderstood the quote, the state isn't providing insurance, just making sure it's purchasable for all NJ citizens regardless of pre-existing conditions, etc. The companies are still private, and still set whatever rates they want.
I'm self employed and just received my premium rate change notice from Blue Cross Blue Shield. For a HMO with 50% co-pay on prescriptions with no pre existing conditions, it will be bumped up to $732.53/month....that's for 1 person.
ouch! That's an awful lot of money for an HMO, for one person. Time to look for a new plan.
I think you misunderstood the quote, the state isn't providing insurance, just making sure it's purchasable for all NJ citizens regardless of pre-existing conditions, etc. The companies are still private, and still set whatever rates they want.
Yes, I understood. I do not want the state telling private companies who they have to insure. Or when. Or how. It's a private relationship and the government should not be involved. And of course, the reason insurance companies don't cover pre-existing in the first place is cost savings necessitated by a nightmarish panoply of government involvement and overregulation over the past 50 years. If you get rid of Medicare and Medicaid and all the other nonsense, insurance rates would probably be 30% of what they are.
And as Obamacare transmogrifies the system further, the results will be bad care, higher rates, and, of course, more call for further collectivization to correct the "problem" of too much freedom.
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