My Health Insurance Is About to Change

Well if Hillary wins next week then we will have health care that is 100 percent government run and controlled, then there wont be any choices for the people so no more complaining.

Every time the government gets involved with things like this they fall apart. There have been different administrations that have screwed up health care including the Clinton's. Keeping healthcare privately run would keep the costs down, since the companies will have to compete with each other.

I agree with those who say that this is exactly why we need universal health care so that EVERYONE is on the plan, including the younger and/or healthy people, rather than that segment of the population opting out so that only those with higher costs and greater needs being insured. The government being involved is not the problem - the problem is that the insurance companies still call most of the shots, and they low-balled a lot of their estimates when the ACA went into effect, hoping to get a lot more people. But because not everyone went into it (only the sickest people with more issues), the insurers didn't get the massive profits they wanted (and if you look at their CEOs' salaries, you'll see it's about the profits!), some have opted out of certain states, which is why we're seeing a premium hike. (That's why company plans are pretty much for everyone, including the younger employees - many of them complain about it, but premiums for everyone help subsidize those people who use the program more.)

My husband and I are self-employed so we've not had a company plan for many years, so we feel your pain. We've drastically reduced our costs due to massive prevention efforts, so we just don't have sick visits at all anymore, and that helps immensely - as your 4 visits for a fever will attest.

So, instead of us getting made at "the government," we need to demand that Congress stop obstructing and making attempts at repealing the ACA, and put in a single payer program (which is what was originally intended but got scrapped in order to "compromise" to keep the money rolling in to the insurers, who in turn donate big bucks to certain congressional campaigns), and say that this situation that you are facing is simply unacceptable and untenable.

You can also do payment plans for most doctors and hospitals when you have a big expense. As long as you make regular payments, it won't go to collection. Don't be afraid to ask for that.

How much lower are the monthly premiums? Save that money to pay for these visits. Even if the monthly savings is only 50 bucks you just covered all those visits you are complaining about and that isn't even taking into consideration the copays you paid last this year.

Perhaps when it comes out of pocket you will also consider whether it was actually necessary to have brought your daughter in every day when her symptoms weren't actually changing. That behavior is one of the main reasons copay type HMOs made health care costs rise so quickly over the past 25 years.

Sorry if this doesn't seem very compassionate but there are a lot of people out there who's deductibles went way up and so did their premiums so you are actually lucky.

Yep, this is has been my life for the past year.

You start to feel like every cough, sniffle or fall is going to cost you $200. It is nerve racking.

I am upfront with each doctor that each visit is out of pocket and that I am trying to stick to a medical budget. They have all been helpful and understanding.

One of my sons was underweight at his yearly physical, and the doctor wanted to see him in 3 months. I have been monitoring his eating and taking his weight weekly hoping that I can call her with the information and avoid $100 visit just to say 'he is fine'. But if that does not suffice, I will absolutely bring him in. I completely understand that she may need more info and want to be more thorough. It stinks to be put in this position.

Insurance companies are crooks, JMO.

It's an adjustment, and you just have to be mindful of what really requires a doctor visit, a doctor phone call or what has to be waited out.

You're not alone :-(.

sorry - this is what happens when the government gets involved in things they shouldn't be.

I'm truly sorry you are being screwed to the wall by a plan/law that is SUPPOSED to be affordable.

Our employee premiums went from $225 per paycheck (twice a month) to $550 every per paycheck once 0bama(doesn't)care took effect. Our deductible went up and our co-pays went up. We were spending $12K a year on health insurance. That's 3x more than our auto and home insurance combined. Pretty sad, eh?

Husband went to work for a bigger employer, employee co-pay is $334 per month now. High deductible plan ($5,600 for family).

If you haven't voted yet? A vote for HilLIARy is more of the same....you like this? Vote HilLIARy...if not? Vote Trump or write in someone's name. My opinion

American healthcare sucks. How we're stuck with this private insurance option only is beyond me. Every industrialized nation out there offers a single payer system. I just don't understand why we don't expand Medicare to younger generations, even as just an option. Even people who throw a hissy fit about government run healthcare gladly take Medicare.

I lived in Sweden for a summer and they have socialized medicine. They love it! The family I stayed with kept asking questions trying to understand how in the world we have a for-profit system. I honestly couldn't defend it.

This is EXACTLY what needs to be talked about. That so-called Obama Care yelled from the rooftops that everyone would be able to afford the new premiums. Well, actually, ir did seem like more people could afford health insurance. My 28 year old son realized he could easily afford a basic plan; he is almost never sick, and in excellent health, so a low-premium plan was perfect.

Then...(insert sound of screeching tires)...he realized the deductible was about $6,000. Which pretty much eliminates going to the doctor for strep throat, stitching up a cut finger, and minor things that might occur. He said he'd have to be run over by a bus in order to use any health care from a health care provider.

But I don't hear politicians mentioning the sky-high deductibles that went along with the new health care. That's why the whole thing isn't working. If someone had $6,000 or $7,000 laying around, they'd probably have the resources to buy regular insurance.

It's like telling someone with money troubles that you'll rent them a really great apartment for $250 a month. They get excited. Then you tell them the security deposit is $10,000 and has to be paid in full before they can move in.

I completely agree with you. Our son is uninsured, due solely to the pointlessness of paying $100 a month every month for nothing, due to a $6,000 deductible. He got strep throat last year, and we paid for him to go to one of those CVS Minute Clinics. Whole thing cost less than $150, including antibiotics. It's such a precarious place to be in.

But they still keep screaming about how great the affordable premiums are, completely ignoring the deductible elephant in the room.

Yep... this happen to my family last year. Lost our plan, lost our doctors, increased cost of monthly premium, copay and deductibles. It's crazy and I fully blame obama and the democrats for this mess.

I don't get those who wish for a single payer system. You want your healthcare to be run like veterans hospitals with long wait times to see a doctor, starting treatment, waiting for testing. No thanks!

Look no further than how the government runs veterans hospitals or look at the Canaian system to see what it is like. Canadians are happy with their system for simple things like sinus infection but if you have something serious going on be prepared to get on a plane and come to the US for treatments. If the democrats get their way I wonder where we will have to go to get timely appropriate treatment.

That's a big problem for everyone.
We've got more people insured but the deductible is so high people can't afford to see a doctor anyway.
There's been nothing 'free market' about our health care system since the 1960's so to expect it should act like a free market now is unrealistic.
Competition between insurances doesn't exist in the way they thought it would.
They just agree as a group to raise their rates/deductibles no matter what.
Same thing with pharmaceutical companies.
Which is why our government needs to step in and regulate the prices - like every other industrial country does.
People say "that's too much government control in our lives".
To that I say - what's wrong with negotiating a descent price for goods and services?
As consumers individually we shop for the best deals we can get - we use coupons, we look for sales, etc.
What's wrong with doing this on a government level?
We agree with it in principle - we just argue about the level of scale.

This isn't the result of government getting involved. It's the result of greedy corporations. As long as their CEOs are making millions of dollars in salary and perks, I blame it on them. In the 70s, insurance companies were allowed to become for-profit, and THAT is what caused them to start raking people over the coals. And they would be raising prices regardless of the law, there were reports back in the middle of the last decade warning of significantly increasing premiums in the following years, the increases are the result of many factors, you can't blame it all on "Omg this law is bad for everyone because I'm against subsidies for the working class! Personal responsibility! Big government!" and all the other nonsense arguments. What is the solution, then? I never hear solutions, just complaints. If you can't see the good Obamacare has done, you're selfish and blind. It's not perfect, but it was a step in the right direction. But we need single payer healthcare, just like every other western country. It would cost less and cover everyone.
Ours went up, too (doubled, bigger copays, etc). But they are basing this on our 2014 taxable income. Our income last year was a little lower, so we may qualify for a bigger subsidy. I feel your pain, but you don't have to go with the plan they assign you. Look on healthcare.gov and see if there's a better plan for you.
For us, it's better than no insurance, and it's still less than it was before Obamacare took effect. Before 2014, my husband and I had been without insurance for 20 years - none of his employers ever offered it, and full time work in his industry is hard to come by, which is why we started our own business. The premiums were so high directly from the insurance company, we never could afford it. We were just two of MILLIONS of people in the same predicament, everyone seems to forget how much this has helped people like us.

I get not liking change forced upon you, but look at the details and give it a chance. We come out ahead financially with the HDHD and HSA combo.

We've had a HDHP for years. The first time we got one is was by choice, because low premium, high deductible plans are great for people who are relatively healthy. We still benefit from the insurance contracted discounts that reduce the bill amount.

To pay the bills when they come, we have an HSA (Health Savings Account) which is funded with tax-free money, so there is another financial bonus. You can also use the HSA money for dental and vision related costs.

The other cool thing about HSAs is that you own it for always. You can switch insurance or jobs, and you never lose the money. Unlike employer-sponsored FSAs the money continues to accumulate (and earn tax-free interest) and you don't have to 'use it or lose it'.

Added: People blame stuff like this on Obama/Affordible Care Act, but things like this - plan switches, cost increases - have been commonplace for ages. (ACA tried to fix some of that, but it couldn't get through Congress with all those regulations.) HDHPs has been around for longer than I've been an adult. The popularity with consumers rose a great deal in 2003 when G.W. Bush signed the HSA option into law.

Welcome to our world: we never go to the doctor. We go for our free yearly check-ups, but I would never take a kid to the doctor when they had a fever. With many things, I call and speak to the nurse. Unless she tells me we need to come in, we wait and touch base with the nurse until everything is clear. Nurse consultation are FREE.

Now, since you have a high deductible, you should have a savings account to go with it. Take your previous premiums and put all that extra money in there. Over time, you will build up the money you need to cover your medical costs. High deductible plans are actually cheaper: by only using what medical care you truly need, you'll save money. Over time, we've managed to save ourselves 10k in a high deductible account. So instead of paying 400 a month in premiums, we pay our savings account.You also get major tax savings as you get to save this money pre-tax, which is like earning money on your dollars. Does this mean you don't run to the doctor over every little thing? yes, you save concerns for your free yearly appointment. Our deductible is 6500, for a family of 5.

FYI, the push for high deductibles has NOTHING to do with Obama care. We've been on a plan now for 8 years. Why? Because it's cheaper for the company and cheaper for us. In fact, hubby's company pays us to be on the high deductible plan, and we end up making 500 a year and paying nothing in premiums. At first I was outraged by it, by having to pay for each doctor visit, etc. but now I see how much money we are saving.Yes, we make choices like not taking the kids to the doctor when a child is sick, but with most illnesses, a doctor isn't needed.

The problem is with insurance companies. If we could remove these billion dollar companies and just pay doctors directly, we'd all save a fortune.

I'm right there with you. I am self employed and so I don't have the ability to get "group" rates. Had to drop Blue Cross last year because they quit offering PPO insurance and went to HMO only. They also went from $1200 p/mo to 1,800 p/mo and NONE of my docs were on their plan.

I know the opinion of some is having the government take it over and have universal care is the answer. I couldn't disagree more. I have friends in England who were hurt in a hiking accident and loss range of motion in her shoulder because it took 14 MONTHS to get an MRI done and they wouldn't do anything surgically without an MRI. Her neck and shoulder are still in bad shape and they've told her there's nothing further they can do.

HMO's I've had equally disastrous experiences with as someone who worked in the medical industry. One where a little girl was denied a tonsillectomy because she hadn't been sick the number of times required in a 6 month period. Even went so far as to get my doc to talk to the medical director of the HMO and he denied the procedure. She wound up in ICU with meningitis due to abscesses on her tonsils. She was there for 5 days. The tonsillectomy would've been out patient and less than $5,000. Instead they put her at risk, wound up with an astronomical bill from the hospital and almost lost the little girl. HMO - no thanks. I don't want anyone besides my doc and I making decisions about whether a procedure is medically necessary.

I am sorry your insurance is changing drastically. Be grateful you had good insurance before. Most healthcare providers will work with you making payments.

I work part time - no health insurance. My husband works for a medium sized local company (about 150 employees). He has fairly well controlled epilepsy due to good access to excellent doctors and proper medications. Until 2016, we paid for a PPO. It cost us 16,000 in 2015. Last year, the company stopped offering a PPO. We have a high deductible this year - the premiums are $12K for our family and the deductible is $12K. Essentially we are $24K out of pocket before anything is paid for. During the year, one son broke a collar bone, my husband broke his finger, another son had mono and went into liver failure. We do what we can to keep costs down - go to urgent care rather than ER for x-rays, only go to MD when really needed. No extra testing, just minimums. We have no choice- you can't go on the Obamacare exchanges if you or your spouse have a health insurance offering from your employer. Private health insurance would be worse.

Got the health insurance info for 2017 yesterday. Premiums up about 10% Less than national average but this is crazy. My husband and I went to early vote last night and we both voted for Trump and a straight Republican ticket. Am a registered independent and have voted both ways previously (although never for Obama). We can't take much more!!!!!

I would agree with others that say to ask questions of your doctor and be $-smart.

For example, I recently went in because a routine test was high. My doctor said to come back in 3 months because she wanted to repeat it (see if it went back to normal). I asked her - do I need to come in, or can you just write me a script that I can take to Quest? She wrote me the script. That way, if it comes back normal, all I'm paying is for the test, not the office visit. But if I hadn't asked, I would have been paying for the unnecessary office visit.

For trips to the pediatrician - once you took her in and the doctor looked at her the first time, when you had questions, did she really need to go back in, or could you have gotten advice from a nurse on the phone?

In general, how many of us (and I'm not pointing a finger at you, but rather our society as a whole) run to the doctor for antibiotics when we have a virus (which antibiotics won't help, but doctors give out anyway because patients insist)? We pay for that office visit and unnecessary antibiotics, when we would have gotten better in the same amount of time by waiting a few days.

I suggest that one reason that healthcare costs have gotten out of control is that we, as a society, have not had to bear the true cost of healthcare for a long time. We are in the habit of going to the doctor, even when it's not needed. Or, if we do need to go to the doctor, we don't ask questions of the doctor when it comes to the cost of different option. It was easy because we didn't have to think about the cost. This is not how we do anything else in life.

I know there are people with chronic diseases or those with emergencies who need to see doctors more often. They have few choices and for them, the high costs are terrible. But there are just as many people who could make different choices to keep costs down, but have simply never thought about it before, because they never saw the true costs of their decisions before.

If we have universal health care then the people from other countries won't be able to come to the U.S. for our much better medical institutions.....like the Canadian Prime Minister and many others

Vote Trump, that's the only hope we have. Hillary already promised universal health care if she becomes president

If you are insured through an employer then the company changed the insurance not the insurance company. If you are getting insurance through the exchange then shop around and see what's available.

I have had a high deductible plan long before it was rolled out to everyone else. I have a hsa account (health savings account) that I've socked money into for years. It builds up, can be carried from year to year, and is spent on medical charges. We were able to pay for my hubby's knee replacement surgeries out of the hsa account and had zero out of pocket expenses for that.

I usually pay for doctor visits and basic testing and pharmacy charges myself without using the account. I want it to keep building in case we run into something that will once again max out the out of pocket for the year. But that's my choice. I could certainly pay for all medical charges out of the hsa account.

Jackie and Wild Woman said it best. When the government is involved, businesses can't compete.

Look at what happened when Ma Bell was broken up all those years ago!

I'm sorry this is happening to you. I have my insurance through my employer. My costs have gone up as theirs has gone up. The worst was after 2012. Those were huge hikes and again in 2014. We are in open enrollment now and it appears our rates are going up again.

Welcome to the club (that no one wants to join). When my husband had his brain hemorrhage 6 yrs ago our total family out of pocket was $1000 and then insurance paid 100%. Excellent coverage!!!!! Now his is almost $6000 and my deductible is over $7000. Then add our premiums to this and our son's coverage to this and it makes me sick to just think about. He has to see doctors left and right and we always meet his but I can't afford to get sick or our future is screwed. NOTHING affordable about the Affordable Health Care Act.......

And don't even talk to me about gov't run healthcare. Took me until October to get a simple correction done so I could file our taxes. No one at the marketplace was accountable or knew what the other departments were up to or even how to fix a simple issue. My phone calls week after week took years off my life. It was a nightmare. Can't even imagine the chaos if it went to 100% gov't controlled.

get your congress man/woman to vote yes to the public option, this will lower everything related to insurance.

Too bad we can't have everybody just not pay any insurance and set it up to pay docs and all directly - it wouldn't even take a year to bring this crazy train to a halt. But, too many have ceded much of their responsibility to others as folks have less skin in the game.

Every time I see something like this is just screams at how badly we need universal health care in this country. I know it does not help you now, but I do hope we can see some real reform in healthcare soon, depending on how the election goes of course. I am so sorry you are going through this!

i'm sorry. that IS infuriating.
one way to cope might be to institute your own private health savings plan- put aside what you can out of each paycheck to cover the stupid costs until you reach your deductible.
khairete
S.

I've been reading about insurance companies changing policies. MOST of the time, the reason given is this is in response to Obama care.

I am surprised by how big of change this is. I would be very upset.

I have Medicare and a supplemental plan which remains unchanged. LAST year they increased the copays on visits and prescriptions. The increases were small. I have Kaiser Permanent insurance. CAn't think what sort of insurance it's called. I go to their doctors and use their pharmacy.

I suggest you research other companies. There.are differences among insurance companies. If you have insurance through your job, you may not be able to change.

I remember a time when we didn't have extensive insurance plans. WHEN I was living at home at 17 or so, My parenend purchased insurance for the first time. It was catastrophic only insurance. DAY to day health.care was out of pocket. Doctor visits, lab costs were low.

Today.health care is much more expense in part because medicine provides much more extensive care. We now have treatment for illness that wasn't available back then for such things as cancer, diabetes, IBS, chrones, infertility, etc. In the past.we didn't rely so much on medical care. We rarely went to the doctor for routine illness.

Medical care has become a political issue. I've read at medical costs have skyrocketed for reasons. I don't understand much of them.

You are not alone believe me. We had to move to a high deductible insurance. There were other options but the premiums and deductible were higher. My daughter is receiving allergy shots so I have to make monthly payments on her doctor bill. I have never had to make monthly payments to a doctor. I will be able to pay the bill off in January when we receive our yearly funding for the insurance. Insurance has gotten ridicules.

I have pretty good insurance I guess. My deductible is $6000 for the family and I think it will be next year also. Open enrollment starts next week. But my insurance premium will go up about $80 per pay check. I also blame greedy insurance and doctors billing for the costs rising. As well as greedy lawsuits that cost the insurance and doctors money. Some of these awards are outrageous.

A doctor my husband used to go to would do their fees, then we had an administration fee and then a fee from the hospital for using the location all because the office was tied to the hospital. Additional fees that have nothing to do with the care received. Due to my sons' high medication costs, we meet the deductible in January--every year. If we do need to go to the doctor before our deductible is met, we would pay the negotiated cost, not the full cost. So if the insurance would pay $100 for the service, then that is what we would have to pay.

While I do agree that gov't getting involved can mess things up, not everything is screwed up. The no lifetime max has stopped the insurance from refusing to cover my oldest. His medication cost is about $30,000 a month and will rise as he gets older. I will be able to make sure he is covered by my insurance until he completes college and is on his own.

One way to save money is by not going to the doctor for every little thing. Stitches, of course, are necessary. But four visits for a fever over the course of a few days? I don't really get that. I would have just called the nurse line and gotten advice that way. Monitored and treated my child at home. Unless your child has an underlying condition or compromised immune system, there's no reason to go to the doctor every time they have a fever.

Remember your question when you go to vote tomorrow!!

That's why the health care law is so bad. It really is AWFUL. My daughter had insane back pain and it took a month before she was even allowed to have any tests run. WHAT?!?! At the end of that month she was sent for an x-ray, MRI, and to a pediatric sports medicine orthopedic. But she had to suck it up for a month first.

It's the general atmosphere now that makes me so thankful my husband served our country for 20 years. But even that is getting bad. CVS will no longer take our insurance and the closest place that does for medicine now is 20 minutes away!

I support Canada at work and we were just there. They were talking about how they used to come here for health care, and now they don't because it's as bad as it is there. Some parts of Obamacare are good...but overall it's a massive train wreck that's screwing the average American sideways. Be very careful about your election choices.

Don't buy it. Find insurance on your own? Let your company know that you won't be able to use that option. IF they don't give you what you need then find something else?

Here as well.

Our premium is doubling and all our providers are now not in network.

We went to our major providers' websites and we were directed to a site where we can search for insurance coverage.

It really sucks.