OT: BC/BS raised fees for affordable care act

[nmevan]

hello friends
I just got a letter from my health insurance company, blue cross.
They raised my payment to help pay for the Affordable Care Act.
Two new fees... #1 The transitional reinsurance program contribution fee.
#2 The annual fee on health insurers, or, the health insurer fee.

I support the affordable care act, and I expected to help pay for it with increased taxes, but I did not hear mention of my own health insurance rates being raised to pay for it.

Has this happened to anyone else?
I'd like to know.
And I'd like to know your opinion as well.

[LinkC]

I have BC (Florida). Mine went up about 8 bucks a month. Pretty normal annual premium raise.

[bwexler]

hello friends
I just got a letter from my health insurance company, blue cross.
They raised my payment to help pay for the Affordable Care Act.
Two new fees... #1 The transitional reinsurance program contribution fee.
#2 The annual fee on health insurers, or, the health insurer fee.

I support the affordable care act, and I expected to help pay for it with increased taxes, but I did not hear mention of my own health insurance rates being raised to pay for it.

Has this happened to anyone else?
I'd like to know.
And I'd like to know your opinion as well.

You must have had your head in the sand the last 6 weeks. It is all I hear about. People having their rates double or triple, their deductibles increase, or their policy canceled. It appears to have already happened to about 2 million people with 10 million more expected soon and by this time next year 129 million.
I have not heard of anything affordable about the the ACA.
Personally it has only caused my costs to increase about $500 from what I can tell from the notice I got from my Medicare Advantage plan. I feel lucky that they called it affordable instead of rape and pillage the masses ACT.

I have heard it won't really hit us (the Medicare Advantage folks) until 2017.

[nmevan]

Yes...I guess I'm a bit out of it.
I have heard on the tv that people's insurance rates have increased...but I thought that was due to a change in the options that their individual policies offered...not out right paying for the program while keeping my coverage the same.

Again, I guess I'm really out of the loop...I don't know what SMH stands for.

[ems]

My Medicare supplement plan went up $7.00. I can work with that.

[chunkyfrog]

Insurance companies are slightly miffed about giving up lifetime limits and pre-existing conditions.
As expected, they are digging in their heels--and blaming somebody else.
Insurance companies think of themselves as businesses, but expect us to think they are service organizations.
Many of us already knew the truth--the rest are just now seeing it.

[deerhound]

Obama will tell you that it is the insurance companies doing it, but then he told us "if you like your plan you can keep it and if you like your doctor you can keep him and that you will save $2500 a year. Believe him at your own risk!

[NateS]

So, about those cancellation letters...
So, about those cancellation letters...
Submitted by THP Danielle on 4. November 2013 - 9:29

Live Blog
Thom's Blog

Surprise, surprise... Insurance companies are trying to cheat customers out of more money. Since the start of Obamacare, we've heard various reports of companies canceling insurance policies, and charging customers hundreds of dollars more each month to continue coverage. Well, it turns out that many of those cancellation letters were misleading, and failed to mention that customers could find better policies at lower prices on a healthcare exchange.

A special report by Talking Points Memo found specific examples of insurance companies contacting people before the October 1st start date, and trying to lock them in to higher priced plans than they could find on an exchange. The companies warned customers that their plans were being canceled and offered them new, higher-priced plans, but made no mention of healthcare exchanges, or subsidies that people could qualify for under Obamacare. One of the women interviewed by TPM would have had to pay more than $1,000 a month for the new plan offered by her insurance company, and it offered bare minimum coverage with a $6,300 deductible. After logging on to her state's insurance exchange, the Seattle resident found a plan for $80 dollars a month with a $250 dollar deductible.

When TPM asked her insurance company why they were using such deceptive methods, a spokesman just said that customers know they have other options. Although it's not clear how many of the cancellation letters being received throughout our country are a result of the same dishonest tactics, it's likely that many other companies are pulling the same scam. These cancellations aren't because of Obamacare, they are simply insurance companies trying to rip off more people while they still have a chance.

This is the exact reason why we needed the healthcare law to begin with. Insurance companies will always put corporate greed over people's health and wallets. And, that's the reason why we should continue to push for single payer, Medicare for all, and get the profit out of our healthcare.

http://www.thomhartmann.com/blog/2013/1 ... on-letters

As someone who spent five years early in my career working in the insurance industry, I continue to be astonished that people take anything their insurance company says at face value. It is just unbelievable!

Best wishes, Nate

[bwexler]

We all know insurance companies are benevolent and philanthropic organizations simply trying to help all of us live better lives. That is probably the reason their headquarters buildings are always small conservative structures.
Just like the casinos on the Las Vegas Strip who are just there to allow all of us the opportunity to win our fortune.

Now back to reality, the insurance companies actually do have a stake in lowering the cost of health care. It would allow them to pocket more profit.

The government only knows how to start and grow buerocracies. Cost containment is not even in their lexicon.

There are a few ideas floating around on lowering cost. One is publishing the actual cost and historical outcomes for available procedures as is being done at some Oklahoma hospitals.
Another is allowing competition across state lines.
Another might be to require plain English in medical and insurance contracts so mere mortals could decipher what they are paying for.

Finally all of us, especially the ones too lazy to belong to groups like this, need to take control of our health and our health care. If we pay attention to what stuff costs, and what DMEs are paying in rental and purchase fees and raise the roof all the way to DC, maybe we can start to make a difference.
I have been and will continue to be yelling at my DME an insurance company about this.

[deerhound]

http://www.thomhartmann.com/blog/2013/1 ... on-letters

As someone who spent five years early in my career working in the insurance industry, I continue to be astonished that people take anything their insurance company says at face value. It is just unbelievable!

Best wishes, Nate

As someone who has spent the last 5 years of my life listening to this Presidential administration, I continue to be astonished that people take anything Obama says at face value, It is just unbelievable!

Dale

[decatur11]

nmevan, Is your insurance with your employer or do you have your own policy? If it is your own, I wouldn't be surprised to see annual rate increases; that is typical. Does your now more expensive plan cover more or less? Does it cover pre-existing conditions it didn't before? Does it have the same deductible and co pays as before? Without knowing all of that, it is impossible to know whether you are ahead or behind. Did your state set up its own exchange or did it dump that onto the federal government? If you can get onto an exchange site for your state or call the relevant number and talk to one of those navigators or counselors whatever they are called in your state, how do your alternatives compare to your current plan in all the respects I've mentioned? And, are you eligible for any subsidy? Many reports on Fox etc have let people complain about "losing" their insurance but did not follow up; the few reporters that did follow up and go with the complainers onto the relevant web site have found these stories actually lead to better coverage and/or prices not worse for those complaining and they are usually pretty surprised.

I would never trust anything in a letter from an insurance company. These fees may be the names they've put on their planned rate increases. If they do not believe that the healthy folks will sign up for insurance and they think that they will lose money covering you with a decent and legal plan as ACA presribes, they may have decided to levy a "tax" on you and make it look like it is a government requirement in order to protect their reserves.

As a 40-year health care administrator, I believe that getting more folks insured will reduce the cost the rest of us will pay, all other things being equal. As long as folks like bwexler believe others shouldn't have to get insurance and should get a free ride at the emergency room, we will all be paying for those freeloaders that want their independence until they or a family member gets sick. Then, when these people get on Medicare they do not complain so loudly that the government can only do bureaucracy - they want the government to keep its hands off their Medicare.

There are some folks in this group who actually understand health care and insurance but not very many - so be careful which ones you believe. I would go with the ones who offer facts and do not flame or try to discredit the others with subjective terms.

[ems]

As a 40-year health care administrator, I believe that getting more folks insured will reduce the cost the rest of us will pay, all other things being equal. As long as folks like bwexler believe others shouldn't have to get insurance and should get a free ride at the emergency room, we will all be paying for those freeloaders that want their independence until they or a family member gets sick. Then, when these people get on Medicare they do not complain so loudly that the government can only do bureaucracy - they want the government to keep its hands off their Medicare.

+ 1

How people don't see this is unbelievable!

[purple]

The rate of health care costs, and thereby premiums was less during the years of the Obama Presidency than during the W. Bush years. It was always expected that health care costs would rise at some point, and thereby premiums. As others have also noted, Obama Care now requires some real standards in what insurance should cover, which leaves out some of the insured individuals with increased costs. Whether the new health care insurance is more usable to the individual is who does not suffer from the health problems they will have in the future is something that some will, hopefully never experience.

I have heard of premium health care policies that have gone up dramatically, and I can not understand why. That is, if the next iteration of the policy in 2014 does not have added benefits to the individual, and it was already at top dollar cost. Why?

There will be all kinds of individual examples of every kind of someone getting screwed by this system, just like there were all kinds of examples of individuals who got screwed by what we had before Obamacare.

I do think we should have pro-active health care. That is a person with a symptom should see a doctor, rather than think of the size of their bank account. Yesterday someone described that the lowest tier of Obamacare might offer a plan for a hundred dollars, but has a $5,000.00 deductible. I know deductibles have kept me from seeking timely health care, and I still suffer symptoms from that delay.

Put another way. If those here had started Sleep Apnea treatment at the earliest possible need (which for me was years before the technology existed) then how much more money could we have earned? How much could we have paid in taxes?

[Sheriff Buford]

I'm still waiting for my $2500 "savings"... "Mr Obama... will that be in cash or check?"

Sheriff

[CowFish]

hello friends
I just got a letter from my health insurance company, blue cross.
They raised my payment to help pay for the Affordable Care Act.
Two new fees... #1 The transitional reinsurance program contribution fee.
#2 The annual fee on health insurers, or, the health insurer fee.

I support the affordable care act, and I expected to help pay for it with increased taxes, but I did not hear mention of my own health insurance rates being raised to pay for it.

Has this happened to anyone else?
I'd like to know.
And I'd like to know your opinion as well.

Ask your neighbors and friends for a reference on a trusted local insurance broker. A broker can help you wade through this mess and find a policy that best fits your situation.

You are going to be fed a bunch of political nonsense on this forum from people who think Obama/Reid/Pelosi walk on water.

Go to that broker. They are in business to help you. Their livelihood depends on doing a good job for the community they serve.