Health Insurance

**Shooter** · October 17th, 2010, 09:26 AM

Wonderful effects of Obama's healthcare reform....

After 13 years on this job with no increases in my paid premium, this year it DOUBLED. My deductable TRIPLED. My out of pocket doubled from 3000 to 6000. So finally we have a meeting with the insurance rep present. After some bitching and moaning from the entire staff, the insurance rep tells us to expect more an more of this due to Obama's plan for healthcare. He also tells us to expect to completely lose our insurance coverage eventually because it will be cheaper for our company to pay the penalty then to provide us insurance.

**centennialdawg** · October 17th, 2010, 06:12 PM

Obamacare..........don't you all just love it?

**R13** · October 17th, 2010, 07:37 PM

Did you not just have another kid that would be added onto the plan? And we're there some medical issues complications too that would raise costs? Along with that, plus the premium rates going up that were going to that have nothing at all to do with the HC bill...that would explain that. I have a hard time believing anything jumps that much without other huge causes. The HC bill probably had as much to do with it as I did, it's done nothing of the sort with what I'm on and has helped big time with extending it for me on my parents plan until I'm 27.

The mandate won't even be here for years, which I doubt there will be companies dropping this dramatically since it's a pitching point for hiring. We can thank the GOP for trying to protect big business with a lower penalty, which should be raised higher though to make sure it doesn't happen at all. That and stripping the option, no surprise, any logical person can see they didn't have any reasonable solutions for reform.

**centennialdawg** · October 17th, 2010, 07:59 PM

Just the fact that there is no longer a pre-existing clause any longer actually could have been a reason for the spike in any insurance plan. The insurance companies will try anything to try and defer expenses back on the insured.

**R13** · October 17th, 2010, 08:03 PM

That's not in effect, it's only for children that weren't covered before, that clause doesn't kick in for years. Premiums are going up dramatically like they were going to before Obama was even elected, going up very fast consistently for well over a decade.

**Shooter** · October 18th, 2010, 11:33 AM

No and No...the kid hasn't been born yet...and the rate went up before the medical problems. After 3 and a half months of begging for a meeting with the insurance company we finally got one.

Im not the one blaming the Obama plan...im telling you what the insurance company themselves told us....to quote "Due to Obama's healthcare policies, prepare for this to happen every year until eventually your insurance is gone completely. It will be cheaper to pay the penalty than to offer you insurance"

**CoeburnCane** · October 18th, 2010, 12:11 PM

So is that really the bill's fault, or is it the Insurance's? If they're knee-jerk reacting to the bill by raising everyone's rates, isn't it them trying to get what income they can right now out of all their customers by doubling/tripling coverage costs while they can--until the market softens and alternatives have to come up to compete?

Basically, sounds like to me it's a CYA on the insurance company's part. They're bilking you while they can until you have a better alternative for health coverage--which should happen as the market opens up more under the bill. Get pissed at the greed, not the bill that's trying to govern the healthcare market in a more responsible manner...but that will take time.

R13's right about the public option. Had that been in the bill, the insurance companies could have done this, but you could have accepted the government option and left them high & dry w/their noncompetitive pricing and likely gotten by cheaper.

**pvfan** · October 18th, 2010, 02:57 PM

Had people had enough sense to leave the public option in the health care bill we would have never had this problem. Sad that insurance companies continue to manipulate their clients with a product that most of us must have.

**1inStripes** · October 18th, 2010, 03:16 PM

Originally Posted by CoeburnCane

So is that really the bill's fault, or is it the Insurance's? If they're knee-jerk reacting to the bill by raising everyone's rates, isn't it them trying to get what income they can right now out of all their customers by doubling/tripling coverage costs while they can--until the market softens and alternatives have to come up to compete?

Basically, sounds like to me it's a CYA on the insurance company's part. They're bilking you while they can until you have a better alternative for health coverage--which should happen as the market opens up more under the bill. Get pissed at the greed, not the bill that's trying to govern the healthcare market in a more responsible manner...but that will take time.

R13's right about the public option. Had that been in the bill, the insurance companies could have done this, but you could have accepted the government option and left them high & dry w/their noncompetitive pricing and likely gotten by cheaper.

Is it the insurance or the hospitals that are forcing this though because hospitals are raising costs to them. Insurance companies have to make money too. Insurance really wasn't made for how it is used today. It was really designed to support people when major things happened like stays in the hospital, or surgery. Not for checkups and etc. Its been abused for a long time. I really expect most people in 3 years to be moving toward HDHP's.

**CoeburnCane** · October 18th, 2010, 04:32 PM

Insurance companies have to make money too.

Ah, but you see, the insurance companies aren't raising these rates just to "get by" and barely break even--which is what your comment makes it sound like. They're raising the rates so their multi-billion $$$ profit margins stay the same or get better. They do that for now until the market softens up and they get some competition, then they've already lined their pockets for when the lean times come. BUT--until the market adjusts and more demand hits along w/some kind of competition, this will continue.

Once again, if we were going to do any health reform, it needed to be the public option b/c that would have automatically given insurance companies competition in the market place, driving prices downward.

However, without it, we just have to hope the market softens up and someone steps in with a better and/or cheaper alternative to what the bigger companies are providing. Until then, we're stuck at status quo.