Preview 2017 ACA plans now active

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The second least expensive Silver plan in my county at my age is an Anthem EPO which pays nothing for out of network services. $2,500 deductible and $6,800 OOP. Monthly rate is $945.67. Multiply by 12 and divide by 0.0813 and the the MAGI cutoff to avoid the penalty is $139,582. I think a lot of folks my age will skip health insurance this year and cross their fingers.
 
MrPotatoChip said:
Declare Bankruptcy
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If it's any consolation... I recently had a procedure miscoded, and the hospital claimed I was responsible for the payment. I asked if there was any sort of reduction since I was paying out of pocket. I was told, if I was uninsured, they would reduce the charge by 80%. Since I was insured, they were only allowed by law or contract, I forget which one at the moment, to reduce the charge by 20%.

So, oddly enough, you may pay less for care without insurance, although the premiums aren't high enough yet for me to take that risk.
 
I just ran the numbers on the marketplace website, and my net premium drops by $175 per month and the deductible and oop also drops! I raised my income for next year to see what I can earn with out an increase, and it looks like I can increase my income (and utilize the 15% tax bracket) by about $20k. I am not too confident about that, but when the final letter comes from BCBS, I will rerun the #s.
 
Everyone is so fixated on increases.

Note, ACA subsidies have gone up about 30% to offset the Insurance increases too.... no one seems to talk about that though.... Shhhhhh.


ACA was designed for those who could ill afford healthcare or had pre-existing conditions. If it is expensive but not more than 9% of your income it is doing it's job. That is about what the countries with single payer charge in taxes. It had got to be paid for somehow.
 
ShokWaveRider said:
Everyone is so fixated on increases.

Note, ACA subsidies have gone up about 30% to offset the Insurance increases too.... no one seems to talk about that though.... Shhhhhh.


ACA was designed for those who could ill afford healthcare or had pre-existing conditions. If it is expensive but not more than 9% of your income it is doing it's job. That is about what the countries with single payer charge in taxes. It had got to be paid for somehow.
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Are you serious? Guess what, the only policy that gives me access to anything but our local Podunk hospital (town of 15K) and any specialist is off exchange and costs a lots more then 9% of my income and you have forgotten the ever increasing OOP attached to all policies...
SHHHHHH, if you don't get a subsidy you don't care how much the subsidy has gone up..

If you have income over the subsidy limit your insurance can cost well over the 9% threshold and your only option then is to pay or not pay and get a waiver from the penalty. A lot of us can ill afford health care and trying to figure out our best options..
 
ivinsfan said:
Are you serious? Guess what, the only policy that gives me access to anything but our local Podunk hospital (town of 15K) and any specialist is off exchange and costs a lots more then 9% of my income and you have forgotten the ever increasing OOP attached to all policies...
SHHHHHH, if you don't get a subsidy you don't care how much the subsidy has gone up..

If you have income over the subsidy limit your insurance can cost well over the 9% threshold and your only option then is to pay or not pay and get a waiver from the penalty. A lot of us can ill afford health care and trying to figure out our best options..
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It's all working out exactly according to the intended plan in the first place - driving everyone to accept government run single-payer healthcare. Everyone can decide for themselves whether that is a good outcome or not.
 
Well you will notice I did not mention politics, lets please keep this politics free, I'm just talking about how some people have ended up in an untenable situation through no fault of their own.

These threads are helpful because we see others are in the same boat and try to figure things out together, within the existing system.
 
Uh, why don't we keep the discussion on the original topic, 2017 ACA plans? :)
 
All this complaining is expected, but largely unwarranted IMHO. Healthcare is expensive--because it insures against a very expensive potential liability. It seems the system is working quite well for me (albeit because I am relatively healthy--not so well for others with ongoing medical problems, I'm sure.)

In any case, in California the premium increases are relatively small for my Bronze HMO plan. These are my monthly actual premiums (unsubsidized) for the past three years and for 2017 (at age 56). Not so bad, I think:

2014 $497
2015 $466
2016 $497
2017 $550

Once FIRED and eligible for the subsidy, I can make these monthly expenses ZERO!
 
There are a lot of numbers thrown around on the messages here, but it doesn't really tell me a lot without an idea of MAGI. In my area, a Silver Plan covering me and DW, with $40k of MAGI, can be as low as $278 after subsidy, to as high as $449 after subsidy (subsidy of 1248/month). Large variation of Deductibles and OOP's, too many to list.
 
ACA not applicable to me so just curious: who pays the subsidy that is frequently mentioned?
 
misanman said:
ACA not applicable to me so just curious: who pays the subsidy that is frequently mentioned?
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The subsidy is paid by the Federal Government. I consider it similar to the tax 'subsidy' that is provided to employees when an employer gets to deduct healthcare expenses.

Yes, that tax code is full of benefits and punishments...
 
Where I live, we are down to one insurer. Just checked rates and the silver plan for me and DW is $20,220/yr. When I first started planning to RE I reviewed healthcare plans and estimated $5-6K/yr is what we would spend on insurance. What has happened to health insurance since then is nothing short of mind blowing.

It's good to remain flexible. My strategy now is to live off funds that do not add to MAGI. We can do that until Medicare becomes available but I am concerned about the working folks that don't get a subsidy. I am also concerned about the one insurer dropping out. The increase in rates with higher deductibles and fewer insurance companies in the "marketplace" can't continue. Stay flexible my friends. Semper Gumby.
 
Insurers dropping out is an issue, they claim it is because they are losing money. This does not seem to be reflected in their total annual profits.

I looked off ACA and the prices were similar to the ACA for the same plans, but without the subsidies... Go Figure. It is well known the Insurance companies do not like the ACA because of the mandatory coverages imposed. (Pre-Existing conditions, wellness tests, Women's Health etc.) all good things IMHO. They appear to be in the "No Soup for you" column.
 
misanman said:
So apparently I am paying it (in part) :(
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That IS the idea of Insurance by the way..... last time I checked anyway. Load is spread across multiple demographics. I pay that also in my taxes. Just instead of getting it back to help me pay for a mortgage that I do not have, want or need, (Also a Government subsidy) I get it to keep me alive. I know what I would prefer.
 
plsprius said:
All this complaining is expected, but largely unwarranted IMHO. Healthcare is expensive--because it insures against a very expensive potential liability. It seems the system is working quite well for me (albeit because I am relatively healthy--not so well for others with ongoing medical problems, I'm sure.)

In any case, in California the premium increases are relatively small for my Bronze HMO plan. These are my monthly actual premiums (unsubsidized) for the past three years and for 2017 (at age 56). Not so bad, I think:

2014 $497
2015 $466
2016 $497
2017 $550

Once FIRED and eligible for the subsidy, I can make these monthly expenses ZERO!
Click to expand...

California premiums are age based. At age 63, your premiums will be significantly higher. The cheapest Bronze non-Kaiser HMO in my area is $835.89. The cheapest Bronze Kaiser HMO is $690.45.

If I did not have pre-Medicare retiree insurance that covers everything except small co-pays, I would not buy these overpriced, shoddy products. I would manage my MAGI so that the second least expensive Silver plan was more that 8.13 percent of MAGI, and tell these people to go jump in the lake.
 
ShokWaveRider said:
Insurers dropping out is an issue, they claim it is because they are losing money. This does not seem to be reflected in their total annual profits.

I looked off ACA and the prices were similar to the ACA for the same plans, but without the subsidies... Go Figure. It is well known the Insurance companies do not like the ACA because of the mandatory coverages imposed. (Pre-Existing conditions, wellness tests, Women's Health etc.) all good things IMHO. They appear to be in the "No Soup for you" column.
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Off exchange only means they are not on the federal or any state exchange and won't be subsidy eligible. For the most part certain items and types of policy are still subject to the federal mandates,,ie ACA compliant.
 
ivinsfan said:
Off exchange only means they are not on the federal or any state exchange and won't be subsidy eligible. For the most part certain items and types of policy are still subject to the federal mandates,,ie ACA compliant.
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That is my point. If they are the same as they appear to be, why are insurance companies pulling off the exchange? They get the same amount of Money, subsidy + customer payment = Total.

[Mod Edit]
 
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PLEASE, why don't we keep the discussion on the original topic, 2017 ACA plans and stay away from partisan politics.

Thanks in advance for your understanding.
 
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