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Old 08-31-2013, 09:43 AM   #241
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Nice link Harry. I sent it to my thick headed friend who continues to believe Obamacare will be cheaper than his retired group plan he is presently on. About 40% higher for the similar plan he has, plus it got worse each year he gets older. As for me, this was the best comparison yet. For a bronze that has a $500 higher deductible than I presently have I would only have to pay THREE TIMES what I presently pay. Can't wait for 2015!
This is a lot worse than I thought. After reading the Covered Ca. site, I thought a silver plan had a zero copay and a 2500 ded. The wall street link to the Toledo Ohio Calculator shows a silver plan having a 3500 ded. with a 30% copy at 6000 additional. Ok lets do the math for a 60 yr old couple. 12k in premiums, 7k in ded, 12k in copy pays. 31k a year. That would be double the cost of what I can buy today. I hope I made a mistake somewhere.
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Old 08-31-2013, 09:54 AM   #242
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So little time and so many questions.

Whatever my rate turns out to be it will be better than what happens when my COBRA runs out.

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Old 08-31-2013, 11:28 AM   #243
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This is a lot worse than I thought. After reading the Covered Ca. site, I thought a silver plan had a zero copay and a 2500 ded. The wall street link to the Toledo Ohio Calculator shows a silver plan having a 3500 ded. with a 30% copy at 6000 additional. Ok lets do the math for a 60 yr old couple. 12k in premiums, 7k in ded, 12k in copy pays. 31k a year. That would be double the cost of what I can buy today. I hope I made a mistake somewhere.
For your wallet's sake Joe, I hope you did! But they have been saying all along (minus government subsidies) that people with underwritten plans with excellent health were going to get hammered in Ohio, Missouri, Texas, and a few others. Somehow it doesn't make it feel better when everything considered it all "evens out" cost wise... I am certainly happy for the people who have previously been excluded who now can get much needed insurance. And I would have gladly paid the reported 25% increase in premiums to allow these people affordable insurance. What gets my goad is the other 75% or so...paying for deductibles I don't want or the "necessary components" I do not need or want. Sorry, end of rant. I promise I won't do it again.....until I see my states officially posted premiums.
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Old 08-31-2013, 04:10 PM   #244
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Originally Posted by Mulligan View Post
Nice link Harry. I sent it to my thick headed friend who continues to believe Obamacare will be cheaper than his retired group plan he is presently on. About 40% higher for the similar plan he has, plus it got worse each year he gets older. As for me, this was the best comparison yet. For a bronze that has a $500 higher deductible than I presently have I would only have to pay THREE TIMES what I presently pay. Can't wait for 2015!
Same boat here, so was hammered when I was working with taxes and get hammered again. Hey at least I have my health
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Old 09-01-2013, 07:07 AM   #245
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Well I received my renewal letter from AZ BCBS, my letter states that I am grandfathered, and I can continue with my existing policy indefinitely. Rates jumped 12% with no age creep, so for the two of us with 80% coverage PPO, $2500 each deductibles, $861 a month. I have made adjustments to our income to stay under 400%, but at least the existing plan isn't a deal breaker. I can live with the extra $100 a month.

Any thoughts about staying with a underwritten group(plan) and increases vs whatever the cat dragged in group, and future rate increases. My guess is that the UW group would be healthier, and keep costs down.
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Old 09-01-2013, 07:48 AM   #246
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Well I received my renewal letter from AZ BCBS, my letter states that I am grandfathered, and I can continue with my existing policy indefinitely. Rates jumped 12% with no age creep, so for the two of us with 80% coverage PPO, $2500 each deductibles, $861 a month. I have made adjustments to our income to stay under 400%, but at least the existing plan isn't a deal breaker. I can live with the extra $100 a month.

Any thoughts about staying with a underwritten group(plan) and increases vs whatever the cat dragged in group, and future rate increases. My guess is that the UW group would be healthier, and keep costs down.
grasshopper, I think it's too early to know what will happen with the grandfathered plans. Not sure if they will look at the grandfathered plans independent of the ACA plans or not but my guess is they will increase all plans every year.

Think of it this way. Even with the underwriting requirements they had, the ability to deny coverage and considering the premium increases on those plans the last 5 years I would not expect much to change. If they find their cost are better for those on the exchange due to volume or for any other reason, they will increase premiums on those grandfathered plans to force people out of them. On the flip side, if the grandfathered plans are more advantageous to them, they may do what they can to keep people on them. However they did not do that two years ago. They increased the underwritten plans so much a lot of us had to jump to another plan just to afford the ongoing premium increases, giving up our grandfathered status.

Congratulations on having a safety net of choices. You can play it year by year.
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Old 09-01-2013, 08:50 AM   #247
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Originally Posted by grasshopper View Post
Well I received my renewal letter from AZ BCBS, my letter states that I am grandfathered, and I can continue with my existing policy indefinitely. Rates jumped 12% with no age creep, so for the two of us with 80% coverage PPO, $2500 each deductibles, $861 a month. I have made adjustments to our income to stay under 400%, but at least the existing plan isn't a deal breaker. I can live with the extra $100 a month.

Any thoughts about staying with a underwritten group(plan) and increases vs whatever the cat dragged in group, and future rate increases. My guess is that the UW group would be healthier, and keep costs down.
Grasshopper, it sounds like you're with a group plan, but I can't quite tell (can you get subsidies with group plans by staying under 400% PL? I thought that was only for individual plans on the exchanges?) If you do have your own individual plan w/ your spouse, tread carefully with this.

Both Mulligan and I are in MO, and have Anthem high deductible HSA plans (the "Lumenos" policy). Anthem has refused to offer clarity on the future status of our HSA HDHP policy.

When you go to ehealthinsurance.com and get a current quote for the same policy we currently have, it comes up in the search for the current rates we're paying....but when you click on the policy for more info, under the "rate guarantee" part, it says "N/A"!!! Meanwhile, other plans, like a Coventry plan, at least say the rate guarantee is "11+ months".

This means that Anthem is not guaranteeing the policy premium in our state. And, technically, can cancel or close the policy at any point in time.

Please check your own policy for the fine print, and get something in writing from Anthem for the guarantee for that quote/policy you have. They can make things sound great by saying "just continue with your policy as-is" (as they recently said to me), but look for what they're NOT saying: they're NOT saying "your current premium/plan will remain in effect for the future".
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Old 09-01-2013, 09:44 AM   #248
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Grasshopper, it sounds like you're with a group plan, but I can't quite tell (can you get subsidies with group plans by staying under 400% PL? I thought that was only for individual plans on the exchanges?) If you do have your own individual plan w/ your spouse, tread carefully with this.

Both Mulligan and I are in MO, and have Anthem high deductible HSA plans (the "Lumenos" policy). Anthem has refused to offer clarity on the future status of our HSA HDHP policy.

When you go to ehealthinsurance.com and get a current quote for the same policy we currently have, it comes up in the search for the current rates we're paying....but when you click on the policy for more info, under the "rate guarantee" part, it says "N/A"!!! Meanwhile, other plans, like a Coventry plan, at least say the rate guarantee is "11+ months".

This means that Anthem is not guaranteeing the policy premium in our state. And, technically, can cancel or close the policy at any point in time.

Please check your own policy for the fine print, and get something in writing from Anthem for the guarantee for that quote/policy you have. They can make things sound great by saying "just continue with your policy as-is" (as they recently said to me), but look for what they're NOT saying: they're NOT saying "your current premium/plan will remain in effect for the future".
Yes it is an individual plan, I was referring to the group as underwritten PPO policies, it is considered a separate class of policy holders, from what I read. No one ever guarantees rates for a full term, wait until you hit 60 half way through the year. Besides I don't believe/trust insurance companies or anyone else to be 100% truthful
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Old 09-01-2013, 08:25 PM   #249
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The functionality of the Federal exchanges' shopping tools has been the source of some speculation.

A blog post I read today mentioned that the feds have released a manual for "navigators". It's 217 pages:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...51495398,d.cWc

Browsing through it, I found the section starting at page 105 on shopping for a policy on the marketplace web site the most interesting.

There will be filtering functions, sorting functions and links to the official summary of benefits and the provider's web site (to research prescription formularies and provider networks, for instance.)

Nothing was remarkable or surprising, really. It's just further confirmation that the web-site programming objectives are consistent with high-function web shopping tools seen in other markets.

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Filtering & Sorting

The Marketplace initially sorts plans from the lowest to the highest premium amount, although consumers may rearrange QHPs by other criteria, such as maximum out-of-pocket costs.

Consumers may also filter QHPs to narrow the results to only display plans that meet the additional criteria. Exhibit 82 specifies the various filtering options available to consumers for customizing their QHP lists.

[filter options: Health Plan Categories, Cost-Sharing Reduction Available, Premium Price Range, Annual Deductible, Out-of-Pocket Maximum, Dental Coverage, Doctor Choice/Plan Type, Insurance Provider, Medical Management Programs, Multistate Network Availability, Health Savings Account (HSA) Eligible]
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Side-by-Side Comparison

Consumers may make direct plan to plan comparisons using the side-by-side function. Exhibit 83 lists the attributes available to consumers for side-by-side comparisons.

[The exhibit lists about 40 types of services in 9 comparison categories. One example category:

Prescription Drug Coverage
• Generic drug
• Preferred brand drug
• Specialty drugs
• Non-preferred brand
• List of covered drugs]
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Old 09-02-2013, 08:58 AM   #250
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Sorry, end of rant. I promise I won't do it again.....until I see my states officially posted premiums.
Your ACA posts are the ones I read a little more closely than others, so please don't stop writing them. I like that you fairly reflect on the overall situation, integrating the latest information, and then add how that affects your situation and your current thinking.
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Old 09-02-2013, 09:23 AM   #251
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Your ACA posts are the ones I read a little more closely than others, so please don't stop writing them. I like that you fairly reflect on the overall situation, integrating the latest information, and then add how that affects your situation and your current thinking.
I second, we happen to live in the same state and I follow your posts. I think you had said earlier you expect your rates to increase. I'm in a different situation with my pre existing conditions, I'll be able to insure my whole body. But I really want to see a real number.

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Old 09-05-2013, 10:54 PM   #252
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Fehb bcbs

Hi everyone just registered today. My question is about my federal retiree health insurance. I plan to retire in June 2014. I will be relocating to NH. I currently have Federal employees BCBS. When I retire I plan to carry BCBS into retirement but was reading an article that noted Anthem BCBS in NH will only have 14 hospitals in its network beginning in January eliminating 26 other hospitals one of which is close to my home. What does this mean? The article is as follows:
CONCORD — Starting in January, nearly half of New Hampshire's 26 hospitals, including Portsmouth Regional Hospital, won't serve patients who get individual health insurance through Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield.
Anthem will be the only company providing individual health insurance plans through the new marketplaces required under the federal Affordable Care Act. The Telegraph of Nashua reports that Anthem will use a "narrower network" of 14 hospitals for customers with individual plans whether or not they purchase plans through the marketplace. Anthem officials described their plans Wednesday at a meeting of the Legislature's Health Reform Oversight Committee.
Critics say the change will force many people to travel farther to get to a hospital or doctor's office.
Hospitals not in the network include Concord Hospital and Androscoggin Valley Regional Hospital in Berlin, as well as Portsmouth Regional and others.

My hospital of choice and doctor would be the Concord Hospital and Concord area. Will this affect my federal BCBS or just the ACA exchanges that will offer BCBS?
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Old 09-05-2013, 11:10 PM   #253
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Welcome Gary7ven. I think your questions would best be answered by BCBS. No harm in calling the BCBS 800 number and posing as a NH retiree with questions.

The only encouraging thing I can say is that we've seen states where different exchange plans posted by a given insurance company have varying networks. Plan A has network A, plan B has network B. So it seems to me it is not a certainty that your BCBS group plan's network will be identical to an individual BCBS plan's network.
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Old 09-06-2013, 11:14 AM   #254
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KFF just posted another detailed assessment of projected HI premiums for 18 large cites. Huge (~45%) variation in rates from 390 in NYC to 697 in Hartford, CT (full mo prem 2nd lowest Silver plan for 60yo non-smoker). Unfortunately my metro are may see among the HIGHEST rates for typical ER's. I hope this analysis proves wrong when actual rates are known in a few weeks, but for some of us it appears the large ACA-related increases some predicted may indeed happen. In my case this KFF prediction would be nearly double my 2013 COBRA

An Early Look at Premiums and Insurer Participation in Health Insurance Marketplaces, 2014 | The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
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Old 09-06-2013, 11:29 AM   #255
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KFF just posted another detailed assessment of projected HI premiums for 18 large cites. Huge (~45%) variation in rates from 390 in NYC to 697 in Hartford, CT (full mo prem 2nd lowest Silver plan for 60yo non-smoker). Unfortunately my metro are may see among the HIGHEST rates for typical ER's. I hope this analysis proves wrong when actual rates are known in a few weeks, but for some of us it appears the large ACA-related increases some predicted may indeed happen. In my case this KFF prediction would be nearly double my 2013 COBRA

An Early Look at Premiums and Insurer Participation in Health Insurance Marketplaces, 2014 | The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
I wonder ultimately this first year price discrepancy is more about in certain places companies getting their rate requests cut, or willingness to be loss leaders to get a foothold in the system. It will be interesting to see what happens the second and third year in relation to pricing points. That scares me even more than the first year projected rates.
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Old 09-06-2013, 11:38 AM   #256
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Isn't red-lining by zip code illegal for car insurance?

Though I guess it comes down to competition in a given market and insurers trying to cherry-pick some desirable demographic.

Still, shouldn't the comparison be more to individual plans that was offered (if any) under the previous system than compare it to COBRA or group plans?
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Old 09-06-2013, 11:38 AM   #257
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It's starting to look like the federal exchange will be the very last one to start posting rates. They probably won't even do that until October 1, and that assumes they are ready by then.
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Old 09-06-2013, 11:49 AM   #258
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It's starting to look like the federal exchange will be the very last one to start posting rates. They probably won't even do that until October 1, and that assumes they are ready by then.
Since many seem to be ex-IT, any wagers for the first federal exchange outage? Maybe a poll? Doesn't belong in this thread.

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Old 09-09-2013, 12:07 PM   #259
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I live in a co-op apartment building. We are currently paying 100% of our 5 full time employees hi. The only Fed taxes we pay are eer SS & Medicare. Can tax credits under ACA be used to offset those?
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Old 09-11-2013, 06:28 PM   #260
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There are some positive and negative quotes in this article, but the federal hub looks like it will be ready for business in 3 weeks.

Obamacare’s data hub insurance network is completed, White House officials say - The Washington Post

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