thenuge26

iTrader: (2)

Last year mine was $45 with $2k deductible, but the company I work at is awesome so I'm not surprised.

concealer404

iTrader: (3)

You rat bastards. :P

Mine is now just about $500 a month. That's AFTER employer contribution. And i WORK for my insurance company.

z31maniac

Cadillac Plan.

NA6C-Guy

iTrader: (1)

What is insurance? It's great being poor with low paying jobs. I've had insurance maybe 3 years out of the last 10. The only times I've needed it was when I didn't have it. Last time I had it about 2 years ago, it went up to about $200/month, which for around here is pretty high. You would think working in the medical field would give you some kind of discount, or a better plan, but we had some of the worst insurance available from United. Co-pays were ridiculous, maximums/deductables were terrible, prescriptions sucked. In the long run, I think I would have come out cheaper by not having it. When I had it, my out of pocket for surgery was something like $4,000, which seems pretty high, but I guess compared to the several hundred thousand the hospital charged the insurance company, it was cheap. I also compared how certain things were actually cheaper without insurance than with. Also, they raise the cost of certain procedures when you do have insurance to drain them of any penny, which I guess ultimately raises everyones premiums.

darkcambria

iTrader: (2)

My insurance went up about $18 a month to $90 a month. However, that was due to our contribution being increased a few percent from what it was last year. I believe as a whole the price to the employer stayed about the same.

pdexta

iTrader: (17)

Mine through my employer went from $70 a month to $76 a month, deductibles doubled, and the employer is supposedly contributing a larger percentage. With everyone's rates going up, and fines for people without insurance, I'm so confused as to how this program is actually costing the government money.

NA6C-Guy

iTrader: (1)

It's all fucked. All hope lost.

z31maniac

Rates are going up because the gov't has forced insurance companies to cover more things, like preventative care (which is a good thing), and drop things like "pre-existing conditions."

It's just like on your home or your car, more coverage costs more money. Throw in subsidies for people who make up to 4x the Federal poverty limit and I believe (I'm sure Joe or Brain will correct me) you end up subsidizing the plans for approx. 55% of the country.

Ben

iTrader: (33)

Mine was similar, but $2k deductible then 100% coverage. Premium doubled over the past 2 years to ~$140/mo. It's a Humana plan.

fooger03

iTrader: (2)

Edit - way too late

Tekel

iTrader: (2)

I'm a state employee. I pay $141/month for me, wife, 1 child. Employer contribution is $881. I'm not sure how my plan is going to be affected going forward. Deductible is $100 annually with up to $3500/person

concealer404

iTrader: (3)

There's a few things wrong with this. Hopefully I'll remember to address them later.

rleete

iTrader: (21)

My company used to pay 90%. Next year it's going to 75%. That's going to hurt. Rates are supposed to go up 5-10%, and they've said to figure on about 7%.

thenuge26

iTrader: (2)

Well hospitals at least charge ridiculous prices for everything to make up for the cost they have to eat when they give emergency care to someone without insurance (who then files for bankruptcy because if you don't have insurance chances are you can't pay for your $300k emergency surgery).

Tekel

iTrader: (2)

^ Then you have medicare who just tell the hospitals how much their going to pay and tell them to deal with it.

z31maniac

My CDHP is similar price but with a slightly higher deductible, then 20% coinsurance to the out of pocket maximum of $5k.

Next year the deductible/OPL will double, but I will pay ~$20 per paycheck for me and my wife's insurance.

The low-deductible plans are fairly expensive in OK, I'm assuming because we are about the fattest state in the nation.

*insertobesityisgenetichomosexualityisachoice.meme *

concealer404

iTrader: (3)

Well.... that.

And the joneses of buying a new CAT scan machine every 6 months because the latest and greatest came out.

And the fancy bamboo floors and aquariums.

And advertisements that aren't really allowed in any other country but the good old u s of a.

And the need to perpetuate the old Craigslist selling idea when bargaining with insurance companies concerning their contracted rates/payments. (I want $500 for this, i think i'll ask $1500 and let them whittle me down to $600.)

Which also brings me to one glaring thing wrong about the previous post that i had mentioned.

Providers CANNOT, i repeat CANNOT charge different prices to people who do have insurance, than they do to people who don't have insurance. This is a breach of their provider contract with insurance, and it shows that their true billed charges that they present to insurance during contract negotiations are total bullshit. (They are, so... whatever.)

Bear in mind that i specifically said "charge."


I'm not fond of Medicare, but i do like that aspect of it.

"Here's $20, **** you."

thenuge26

iTrader: (2)

I always laughed when I saw commercials for private colleges offering associates degrees in medical billing. If you need an associates degree to fill out an invoice, something is wrong with the system.

concealer404

iTrader: (3)

You don't need a degree, but it's just another way to funnel unnecessary money into the whole process. The forms are really quite simple.

Scrappy Jack

iTrader: (2)

Good grief. What sort of plan is that and did they do individual ratings or something? Is that a family plan? My insurance wouldn't cost that much if I picked up the employEE and employER portions.

I just went back and checked my figgers to be accurate. For health insurance only (not dental or vision) on myself only (my wife makes her own chedda and has her own health plan):

2010 -> 2011: My monthly premiums went up 7% vs prior year
2011 -> 2012: My monthly premiums went up 6% vs prior year
2012 -> 2013: My monthly premiums went down 27% vs prior year*

My employer's share actually increased 18%, 6%, and 7% respectively.

* In 2013, I switched from an HMO style plan with a Flexible Spending Account to a High Deductible Health Plan with a Health Savings Account.

The most I paid (2012) was about $75/month.

I really wonder if it is the difference between working for a company that (A) looks out for its people and (B) has thousands of employees and (C) has management that knows how to handle finances and negotiate benefits.

I just did the maths and my employer has been paying between 80% - 90% of the health insurance tab. Note to self: remember to give management a high five.