ACA Federal Marketplace updates

[MRG]

+100

I too want to thank the moderators for their hard work. This thread is one of the most useful, informative ones on the board, and it would be a real shame to see it close for any reason.

I agree, many thanks to the moderators, for all of us that post, let's read the title(not picking, I'm guilty ).

MRG

 

[travelover]

FWIW- In my recent travels I've noticed that CC is not alone as a major referral HC system making sizable cuts. Only time will tell how this affects access regardless of whether or not one gets their HI via Exchange.

I suspect that we will see increasing efficiencies across the industry (and it is an industry). Compared to other democracies with similar income levels, our system just does not deliver high enough outcomes for the amounts charged. In the long run, I see this as a good trend.

 

[ERhoosier]

I suspect that we will see increasing efficiencies across the industry (and it is an industry). Compared to other democracies with similar income levels, our system just does not deliver high enough outcomes for the amounts charged. In the long run, I see this as a good trend.

Agree. At least it appears that rate of rise in US HC costs is moderating.
Health Costs Slow To Lowest Rate In 15 Years As Employer Commitment To Benefits Wanes - Forbes

Hopefully with improved efficiencies & more competition HC costs (& HI premiums!!!) may even begin to come down a bit over time. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking.

 

[teejayevans]

Agree. At least it appears that rate of rise in US HC costs is moderating.
Health Costs Slow To Lowest Rate In 15 Years As Employer Commitment To Benefits Wanes - Forbes

Hopefully with improved efficiencies & more competition HC costs (& HI premiums!!!) may even begin to come down a bit over time. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking.

That title is misleading, it's not what the article says:

The slowing of the rate of health care cost increases comes amid a sluggish economy and a period of high unemployment that has made it easier for companies to reduce benefits of their workers.

In other words, companies have been shifting the HC expenses to employees, so the health costs to companies have slowed, the rest of us are not seeing this.

 

[ERhoosier]

That title is misleading, it's not what the article says:
In other words, companies have been shifting the HC expenses to employees, so the health costs to companies have slowed, the rest of us are not seeing this.

Sorry- pasted wrong link that dealt with employer aspect of HC costs. Here's one for US gov't claiming rate of rise of overall HC costs is slowing significantly.
White House touts slow increase in health care costs

Agree 100% that most (non-Medicaid) folks are shouldering ever increasing burden of HC costs. If/when this recent slowing of HC inflation will ultimately benefit individual or family's finances remains to be seen. I hope it means we won't see more HI rate 'shocks' in premiums for '15 & beyond.

 

[teejayevans]

Here's one for US gov't claiming rate of rise of overall HC costs is slowing significantly.
White House touts slow increase in health care costs

I would take that with a grain of salt, considering the source.

 

[homestead]

Got my Regence Blue Cross letter today , I have a 3500 deduct. Hsa at $257/mo, they are changing
the policy to std bronze plan 5000 det. at $486/mo.

 

[teejayevans]

Got my Regence Blue Cross letter today , I have a 3500 deduct. Hsa at $257/mo, they are changing
the policy to std bronze plan 5000 det. at $486/mo.

Boy I hope those are typos...90% increase with higher deductible??

 

[brewer12345]

My large employer just sent around annual enrollment info. Everything will be the same except the premiums will be 7.5% less than last year, which they are sharing with us.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Got my Regence Blue Cross letter today , I have a 3500 deduct. Hsa at $257/mo, they are changing
the policy to std bronze plan 5000 det. at $486/mo.

At least you have insurance at a "reasonable" price. Without ACA I cannot get insurance because of a heart defect. Whenever I try I get the "No Insurance for You" response along with a laugh or giggle.

Whatever happened to "For the good of the Masses"? That is what ACA is all about, isn't it?

 

[easysurfer]

I currently have a HSA from BCBS with a $5K deductible.

If my memory serves me right, I received the postcard saying "I'm golden" that no changes needed, grandfathered or something. But when I was looking for that post card, I might have tossed it or imagined the whole thing. Terrible.. I know

 

[Mulligan]

Got my Regence Blue Cross letter today , I have a 3500 deduct. Hsa at $257/mo, they are changing
the policy to std bronze plan 5000 det. at $486/mo.

Let me take some wild guesses, Homestead....you are presently living in a state that underwrites, you are male, don't presently have maternity benefits, or possibly drug rehab benefits. Really those are not the major points as I accept them as part of them change and it is what it is. The part that bothers me is they (assuming you are on an individual plan) could re-up your present plan until December 31, 2014, but they haven't because of the money grab they want from you. If I were you, and assuming my assumptions are correct, I would seriously consider going with another provider that will let you have their underwritten plan until Dec. 2014. Or at least investigate it, as I do not know your individual health situation. Mine was a no brainier as I have no health problems. My BCBS is fixing to pull the same stunt on me, but I beat them to the punch and just switched carriers. I will re underwrite again in December to extend it out until the very end.

 

[MRG]

At least you have insurance at a "reasonable" price. Without ACA I cannot get insurance because of a heart defect. Whenever I try I get the "No Insurance for You" response along with a laugh or giggle.

Whatever happened to "For the good of the Masses"? That is what ACA is all about, isn't it?

Yep that's my deal, different body part but same deal. I've not tried the we'll will insurance you except your spine(and all its attached to) yet. Without ACA it's exclude body parts or get insurance through a j*b.

MRG

 

[homestead]

Let me take some wild guesses, Homestead....you are presently living in a state that underwrites, you are male, don't presently have maternity benefits, or possibly drug rehab benefits. Really those are not the major points as I accept them as part of them change and it is what it is. The part that bothers me is they (assuming you are on an individual plan) could re-up your present plan until December 31, 2014, but they haven't because of the money grab they want from you. If I were you, and assuming my assumptions are correct, I would seriously consider going with another provider that will let you have their underwritten plan until Dec. 2014. Or at least investigate it, as I do not know your individual health situation. Mine was a no brainier as I have no health problems. My BCBS is fixing to pull the same stunt on me, but I beat them to the punch and just switched carriers. I will re underwrite again in December to extend it out until the very end.

Live in Oregon, no health problems, 60 yrs old. Have appointment with health insurance broker next month to weigh my options. Good luck to everyone getting good insurance for next year.

 

[bUU]

At least you have insurance at a "reasonable" price. Without ACA I cannot get insurance because of a heart defect. Whenever I try I get the "No Insurance for You" response along with a laugh or giggle. Whatever happened to "For the good of the Masses"? That is what ACA is all about, isn't it?

To be precise, it's all about affordable health coverage for those who otherwise could not afford healthcare. That does include folks with preexisting conditions who were either simply barred from the system before ACA or charged such excessively large surcharges that they literally could not afford the coverage, i.e., it would force people to make decisions between health and food, etc.

 

[easysurfer]

I heard about the situation on the morning news:

In other words, it’s crunch time. And in this morning’s Wall Street Journal comes word that the exchange software, for which the government has spent upwards of $88 million, still can’t correctly calculate the amount of subsidies that an individual applicant is eligible for.

WSJ: Obamacare Software Can't 'Reliably Determine' Enrollees' Eligibility For Subsidies - Forbes

I bet a lot of computer programmers are earning some overtime at the moment

 

[pb4uski]

This article totally ignores that taxpayers will need to reconcile their income and subsidies for 2014 on their 2015 tax returns and repay any ill-gotten subsidies. And as we have mentioned in other threads, the IRS is pretty good at finding ways to collect taxes that are due. All this seems to be is a trojan horse argument to delay to me (and I'm not a big fan of the law to begin with).

 

[Birdie Num Nums]

I heard about the situation on the morning news:
WSJ: Obamacare Software Can't 'Reliably Determine' Enrollees' Eligibility For Subsidies - Forbes

I bet a lot of computer programmers are earning some overtime at the moment

Forgive my ignorance, but is that "Obamacare Software" calculator completely different (and/or inapplicable) vs. the Washington State calculator? I'm trying to catch up to all this stuff.

 

[easysurfer]

Forgive my ignorance, but is that "Obamacare Software" calculator completely different (and/or inapplicable) vs. the Washington State calculator? I'm trying to catch up to all this stuff.

I just re-read the article. The Obamacare Software I assume is for ones where the fed government is running all or part of the exchanges:

The WSJ article was authored by Christopher Weaver, Timothy Martin, and Jeniffer Corbett Dooren. “If not resolved by the Oct. 1 launch date,” they report, “the problems could affect consumers in 36 states where the federal government is running all or part of the exchanges. About 32 million uninsured people live in those states.”

 

[bUU]

I bet a lot of computer programmers are earning some overtime at the moment

But not getting paid for it. Software developers on at least some of the exchange development projects are salaried personnel.

 

[MRG]

But not getting paid for it. Software developers on at least some of the exchange development projects are salaried personnel.

It's a privilege to put in 80 hour weeks for months on end! At the end you might get a pat on the back, or another impossible date.

Yea this retirement stuff, every day I get reminded of how much I miss IT.

MRG

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I have been analyzing the different plans for us at different income points. The best plan for us seems to be the Bronze HSA at an income level that would gives us a little head room to convert some 401K money to Roth IRAs at a low tax bracket.

Our annual premium cost after subsidies would be under $1K. If we don't use any medical care, that would be all we pay for medical costs for the year.

If we hit the family out of pocket max our total costs are still lower than the silver plan because the out of pocket max is the same as the silver, but the silver would have much higher premiums, making a higher total cost.

Our likely total costs health costs would be ~$4K - $5k, based on the average amount of doctors visits and tests we have used in the past as a family in a typical year, which is still less that the silver plan total costs, because of the higher premiums with the silver. And with the HSA, I believe we can use that for glasses and dental costs?

So unless DH finds some flaws in my math, it looks like for us the bronze plan is the clear winner.

 

[ERhoosier]

I have been analyzing the different plans for us at different income points......

If we hit the family out of pocket max our total costs are still lower than the silver plan because the out of pocket max is the same as the silver, but the silver would have much higher premiums, making a higher total cost....

So unless DH finds some flaws in my math, it looks like for us the bronze plan is the clear winner.

Although hard figures are not yet published for my state, it appears your analysis is generally correct. TRUE OOP max includes both HI premiums PLUS published "OOP max". IMHO- It's rather disingenuous for gov't (& insurance carriers) to present "OOP max" in a manner that ignores premium costs.
BTW- I have seen quotes of some states' Gold & Platinum Plans with lower published OOP max figures. For those eligible for significant premium subsidies, it's possible some of those could offer lower actual total annual costs (premiums + published "OOP max").

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Although hard figures are not yet published for my state, it appears your analysis is generally correct. TRUE OOP max includes both HI premiums PLUS published "OOP max". IMHO- It's rather disingenuous for gov't (& insurance carriers) to present "OOP max" in a manner that ignores premium costs.
BTW- I have seen quotes of some states' Gold & Platinum Plans with lower published OOP max figures. For those eligible for significant premium subsidies, it's possible some of those could offer lower actual total annual costs (premiums + published "OOP max").

The platinum premiums for us, at our optimum MAGI for income tax / Roth conversion purposes, would be 15K a year, which is significantly higher than the total annual premiums ($660) plus OOP max (12.7K) for the bronze plan.

So the platinum plan does not come out ahead for us under low, likely or maximum medical cost scenarios. In a low medical expense year for us, it could cost us over $14K more than we would spend under the bronze plan, because of the fixed premium costs. And in a high medical expense year, the total cost would be ~$10k higher because the OOP max isn't much lower than the bronze plan, but the premiums would be $14K higher.

 

[Birdie Num Nums]

I expect to have about $10K in taxable interest/dividends for 2014. My state calculator says I'm entitled to Medicaid under the new ACA. If I increase that to $20K/yr., my estimated monthly silver plan premium is $85.

Yesterday I got a notice from my HI company that if I stay on a similar plan come January 2014, my unsubsidized premiums for a bronze plan increase from $323 to $530. (Deductible increases from $2,750/$5,500 to $4K/$8K.)