Another 15% rise in health insurance this year

[rdean]

Just like the last 15 years.
My policy for very healthy, no prior history is now over $1000.00 a month for my family of THREE. 5K Deductible.
Add in my HSA that is 18K I pay this year. I make good $$ so I have it.
Folks, this system is unsustainable. My nephew is 27, self employed and making 40K a year and he has a daughter with bad allergies. He can not afford his policy of $1200 a month, 5K deductible, and had to drop it. With co-pays he paid over 15k last year.
The
Group health care through insurance is the worst possible system to deliver health care to a working nation.

obie wan was gonna fix all that for ya wasn't he? oh,,, well,, nebbermind.

He tried. Republicans have better propaganda. Remember, Obama took a trip costing 200 billion trillion dollars a second.

 

[rdean]

Funny, health care companies have no doctors, no nurses, no hospitals. There are there strictly to skim money off insurance policies. Imagine if they were "not for profit" instead of preying on America. Right wingers like preying.

 

[AVG-JOE]

You should consider using an HSA plan. My wife and I use an HSA eligible plan with a $4500 deductible - we pay under $400/month and have excellent coverage if we need it. I fund my fully tax deductible HSA to the maximum every year and have more than enough to cover the deductible in the event a catastrophe happens. Personally, I believe that that is what insurance is for - catastrophes - not a runny nose, right?

I am spending the same as you annually, except for one HUGE difference - When I don't get sick I keep $6000 a year, every year. I have accumulated a fairly decent little pile of money over the years in my HSA. Tax sheltered CASH that I can use for practically any medical reason I want (there are very few restrictions). It is a very flexible program.

So the question is- Why pay are you paying $10,800 a year for insurance when you can spend $4800 on the "insurance part" and save/invest $6000 per year? Why give that money to the insurance company? Why be a chump when you don't have to be?

It's not the plan, it's the system.

I picked the most cost effective plan that my employer offers for worker bees who don't require constant doctoring.

The thing that sucks is knowing that the lions share of the $150,000 + that I'll be spending on 'health care' over the next 13 years will be going toward a corporate jet instead of being saved up for when I'm 65 and I start needing service.

When I'm old enough to need to see a doc on a regular basis YOU get to pay for my health care through Medicare as the private owners of my insurance bureaucracy fly their new Lear Jet to Aruba.

Chumps.

Every fucking one of us.

If you picked the plan your employer offered and it is costing you$1000 per month put of pocket - you really are a chump.
You should at least investigate an HSA - you have nothing to lose.

Did is say it was $1000 a month out of pocket?

Anyone who doesn't consider what his employer pays on his behalf as a value due for services rendered and therefor a health care expenditure is a fool.

 

[KissMy]

Man you guys should shop around for new health insurance. Get the heck out of those group insurance policies that you are in. My wife & I are 47 years old, self employed & have our policy with Assurant Health. We pay $162 per month. That = $81 each. We also pay another $10 per month to guarantee the rate is locked for over 3 years.

 

[KissMy]

Funny, health care companies have no doctors, no nurses, no hospitals. There are there strictly to skim money off insurance policies. Imagine if they were "not for profit" instead of preying on America. Right wingers like preying.

Who says you can't buy your insurance from a not for profit? I bet their rates are higher than what you are paying now.

 

[Zander]

It's not the plan, it's the system.

I picked the most cost effective plan that my employer offers for worker bees who don't require constant doctoring.

The thing that sucks is knowing that the lions share of the $150,000 + that I'll be spending on 'health care' over the next 13 years will be going toward a corporate jet instead of being saved up for when I'm 65 and I start needing service.

When I'm old enough to need to see a doc on a regular basis YOU get to pay for my health care through Medicare as the private owners of my insurance bureaucracy fly their new Lear Jet to Aruba.

Chumps.

Every fucking one of us.

If you picked the plan your employer offered and it is costing you$1000 per month put of pocket - you really are a chump.
You should at least investigate an HSA - you have nothing to lose.

Did is say it was $1000 a month out of pocket?

Anyone who doesn't consider what his employer pays on his behalf as a value due for services rendered and therefor a health care expenditure is a fool.

Oh I don't know - maybe it was this part? It is kinda misleading..

The thing that sucks is knowing that the lions share of the $150,000 + that I'll be spending on 'health care'

Going forward you should really speak for yourself - you seem to be obsessed with being a chump or a fool.

 

[Big Black Dog]

I can't wait to die. Then I won't need any stinking health insurance.

 

[AVG-JOE]

If you picked the plan your employer offered and it is costing you$1000 per month put of pocket - you really are a chump.
You should at least investigate an HSA - you have nothing to lose.

Did is say it was $1000 a month out of pocket?

Anyone who doesn't consider what his employer pays on his behalf as a value due for services rendered and therefor a health care expenditure is a fool.

Oh I don't know - maybe it was this part? It is kinda misleading..

The thing that sucks is knowing that the lions share of the $150,000 + that I'll be spending on 'health care'

Going forward you should really speak for yourself - you seem to be obsessed with being a chump or a fool.

If I was the only one who feels ripped off by the health insurance industry we wouldn't be having this conversation. I'll simply continue to speak my mind, but thanks for the advice.

 

[Sarah G]

Did is say it was $1000 a month out of pocket?

Anyone who doesn't consider what his employer pays on his behalf as a value due for services rendered and therefor a health care expenditure is a fool.

Oh I don't know - maybe it was this part? It is kinda misleading..

The thing that sucks is knowing that the lions share of the $150,000 + that I'll be spending on 'health care'

Going forward you should really speak for yourself - you seem to be obsessed with being a chump or a fool.

If I was the only one who feels ripped off by the health insurance industry we wouldn't be having this conversation. I'll simply continue to speak my mind, but thanks for the advice.

You are certainly not the only one. Obviously Repubs would like to keep the big ripoff by the insurance companies going.

Even though at some point in their lives, they too will be ruined financially by them.

 

[Gadawg73]

You should consider using an HSA plan. My wife and I use an HSA eligible plan with a $4500 deductible - we pay under $400/month and have excellent coverage if we need it. I fund my fully tax deductible HSA to the maximum every year and have more than enough to cover the deductible in the event a catastrophe happens. Personally, I believe that that is what insurance is for - catastrophes - not a runny nose, right?

I am spending the same as you annually, except for one HUGE difference - When I don't get sick I keep $6000 a year, every year. I have accumulated a fairly decent little pile of money over the years in my HSA. Tax sheltered CASH that I can use for practically any medical reason I want (there are very few restrictions). It is a very flexible program.

So the question is- Why pay are you paying $10,800 a year for insurance when you can spend $4800 on the "insurance part" and save/invest $6000 per year? Why give that money to the insurance company? Why be a chump when you don't have to be?

My HSA, 5K deductible is $991 a month and I am 56. When I first opened it we paid $380 a month.
Because of government regulation HSA policies rise faster than any other private policy. I like the tax benefits but my agent, life time friend and honest to the core, advises HSAs are top heavy in required coverages by statute and expensive for the over 50 crowd.

I am 48 and I pay $398/month with a $4500 deductible and that includes my wife (who is older than me!).

Sounds exactly like mine.
I have 5 on my plan. I paid about the same as you at age 48 and it has gone up 15% or a little more each year. At age 56 you will be at about where I am. At age 53 you will see a 20% rise that year alone.

 

[Gadawg73]

Man you guys should shop around for new health insurance. Get the heck out of those group insurance policies that you are in. My wife & I are 47 years old, self employed & have our policy with Assurant Health. We pay $162 per month. That = $81 each. We also pay another $10 per month to guarantee the rate is locked for over 3 years.

Assurant Health has the worst record for bad faith investigations in the country.
I mean no disrespect but I would run from them. Very bad company if you have a serious illness with a large claim. They always deny,deny, deny and you have to litigate to get payment. They have the worst rating ever.

 

[KissMy]

Man you guys should shop around for new health insurance. Get the heck out of those group insurance policies that you are in. My wife & I are 47 years old, self employed & have our policy with Assurant Health. We pay $162 per month. That = $81 each. We also pay another $10 per month to guarantee the rate is locked for over 3 years.

Assurant Health has the worst record for bad faith investigations in the country.
I mean no disrespect but I would run from them. Very bad company if you have a serious illness with a large claim. They always deny,deny, deny and you have to litigate to get payment. They have the worst rating ever.

I wish they would deny my legit claims. I would have an attorney on them so fast suing for selling Insurance in bad faith & make millions like in the movie the "Rain Maker"

 

[Zander]

My HSA, 5K deductible is $991 a month and I am 56. When I first opened it we paid $380 a month.
Because of government regulation HSA policies rise faster than any other private policy. I like the tax benefits but my agent, life time friend and honest to the core, advises HSAs are top heavy in required coverages by statute and expensive for the over 50 crowd.

I am 48 and I pay $398/month with a $4500 deductible and that includes my wife (who is older than me!).

Sounds exactly like mine.
I have 5 on my plan. I paid about the same as you at age 48 and it has gone up 15% or a little more each year. At age 56 you will be at about where I am. At age 53 you will see a 20% rise that year alone.

I will probably raise the deductible each year to keep the premium as low as possible. I have accumulated about 100K in the HSA account, so I am not too worried about meeting a high deductible. The only reason I have the insurance is for a catastrophic event like heart attack, an accident, surgery etc...

 

[Gadawg73]

Man you guys should shop around for new health insurance. Get the heck out of those group insurance policies that you are in. My wife & I are 47 years old, self employed & have our policy with Assurant Health. We pay $162 per month. That = $81 each. We also pay another $10 per month to guarantee the rate is locked for over 3 years.

Assurant Health has the worst record for bad faith investigations in the country.
I mean no disrespect but I would run from them. Very bad company if you have a serious illness with a large claim. They always deny,deny, deny and you have to litigate to get payment. They have the worst rating ever.

I wish they would deny my legit claims. I would have an attorney on them so fast suing for selling Insurance in bad faith & make millions like in the movie the "Rain Maker"

You have to die first.

 

[Gadawg73]

I am 48 and I pay $398/month with a $4500 deductible and that includes my wife (who is older than me!).

Sounds exactly like mine.
I have 5 on my plan. I paid about the same as you at age 48 and it has gone up 15% or a little more each year. At age 56 you will be at about where I am. At age 53 you will see a 20% rise that year alone.

I will probably raise the deductible each year to keep the premium as low as possible. I have accumulated about 100K in the HSA account, so I am not too worried about meeting a high deductible. The only reason I have the insurance is for a catastrophic event like heart attack, an accident, surgery etc...

HSAs are limited on deductible plans.
HSAs are heavily regulated and past 53 they are expensive.

 

[Bern80]

Third party pay programs are destroying the health care system. Consumers have no incentive to shop around - they go to the Doctor or hospital and "someone else" pays. They have no idea what anything costs - beyond the co-pay. It doesn't stop there either. Drug manufacturer's introduce hundreds of new drugs each year, they advertise them heavily on TV, and consumers demand these new drugs. Why not? "Someone else" is paying.

Equipment manufacturer's make expensive machines, publicize the benefits, pay a few lobbyists to get it "medicare approved" and Doctors demand the tests these new machines provide. Why not? "Someone else" is paying.

The "Scooter Store" will get you a new scooter to drag your morbidly obese adult-onset diabetic ass around- why not? It's free! "Someone else" is paying. Need cathaters? They're free too!!! Need needles, diabetes testing supplies, ostomy supplies? It's free!!! "SOMEONE ELSE" is paying.......

True. which is why contrary to what people like UScitizen think, single payer will be just as bad. You're just trading one middle man for another.

 

[Old Rocks]

Just like the last 15 years.
My policy for very healthy, no prior history is now over $1000.00 a month for my family of THREE. 5K Deductible.
Add in my HSA that is 18K I pay this year. I make good $$ so I have it.
Folks, this system is unsustainable. My nephew is 27, self employed and making 40K a year and he has a daughter with bad allergies. He can not afford his policy of $1200 a month, 5K deductible, and had to drop it. With co-pays he paid over 15k last year.
The
Group health care through insurance is the worst possible system to deliver health care to a working nation.

The system we have at present is not only unsustainable, it is outright theivery. Time to go the a single payer universal healthcare system.

 

[Old Rocks]

There are many nations that have single payer universal health care plans that pay only half as much per citizen, cover everybody, and their results are far better in categories like longevity and infant mortality. Even little Costa Rica does better than we do, with their citizens earning only 1/10 of what our citizens do.

FRONTLINE: sick around the world | PBS

 

[Bern80]

There are many nations that have single payer universal health care plans that pay only half as much per citizen, cover everybody, and their results are far better in categories like longevity and infant mortality. Even little Costa Rica does better than we do, with their citizens earning only 1/10 of what our citizens do.

FRONTLINE: sick around the world | PBS

For the love of god, why do you continue to believe something so ridiculous like longevity has something to do with the quality of a countries health care system?

Many nations with single payer may allow their citizens to spend less on health care, unfortunately that doesn't address the cost of the resources. Those resources are then subsudized and most of the countries with some type of UHC or single payer are running deficits in the billions to pay for it.

 

[uscitizen]

Third party pay programs are destroying the health care system. Consumers have no incentive to shop around - they go to the Doctor or hospital and "someone else" pays. They have no idea what anything costs - beyond the co-pay. It doesn't stop there either. Drug manufacturer's introduce hundreds of new drugs each year, they advertise them heavily on TV, and consumers demand these new drugs. Why not? "Someone else" is paying.

Equipment manufacturer's make expensive machines, publicize the benefits, pay a few lobbyists to get it "medicare approved" and Doctors demand the tests these new machines provide. Why not? "Someone else" is paying.

The "Scooter Store" will get you a new scooter to drag your morbidly obese adult-onset diabetic ass around- why not? It's free! "Someone else" is paying. Need cathaters? They're free too!!! Need needles, diabetes testing supplies, ostomy supplies? It's free!!! "SOMEONE ELSE" is paying.......

True. which is why contrary to what people like UScitizen think, single payer will be just as bad. You're just trading one middle man for another.

Medicare has much lower admin costs than privatre insurance does.