High Deductible HSA-eligible HI Cancelled?

[dawdmorgan]

Has anyone with a high deductible, HSA-eligible health plan had it cancelled due to the ACA yet? I have a $10k deductible plan with Assurant Health (in Missouri) that I was sure was going to be cancelled, but I have not received a letter yet. In fact, they just renewed me for another year starting in October with only about a 6% premium increase y-o-y - much better than the last few years.
I am FIRE at the end of this year, and hope to keep my current policy until early 2015, when my lower AGI should allow me to shop to marketplace and find something comparable. Higher rates I'm sure, but hopefully not a complete disaster. For our family policy (me, DW and 2 kids) we pay about $350 per month...age 44.

 

[ziggy29]

It sounds like yours *may* not have been cancelled because its term begins before 1/1/2014. Even if it's not ACA-compliant or loses "grandfathered" status, I suspect it wouldn't be cancelled until the term of this contract was up (probably October 2014).

My understanding is that you can have a non-ACA compliant policy for at least a part of 2014 as long as the contract began before 1/1/2014. Can anyone confirm or correct that?

 

[dawdmorgan]

Sorry if I posted in the wrong forum - please move if needed...

 

[zinger1457]

If you look through some of the threads in the Health forum you will see that some of us have received a cancellation notice. I received a notice from Aetna that my policy will only extend through 2014, after that it's ACA. You might be in for a shock when you shop for a comparable plan on ACA. The ACA plan that is most comparable to what I currently have has a 70% higher premium. One other member mentioned a 3X increase in premiums. Since you haven't received a notice yet you might be one of the lucky ones that will be able to keep your existing policy after 2014.

 

[Mulligan]

Have you had this plan prior to March 2010? If so and this appears to be a family deductible, you may have a grandfathered plan. I would have thought the company would have sent you info by now explaining your situation. My new carrier told me I was going to be cancelled next sept. (I knew this since I just signed with them), but also gave me the option ,which I took, to stay on through next December. The company I dropped because they wouldn't provide any info finally got around to offering me extension to next December also, but I already had switched plans. Keep in mind if you do have a grandfathered plan, you are at the mercy of insurance carrier to keep it grandfathered. If they make changes (you can google it to find out what would kill its status) to the plan, it could lose the status.

 

[bUU]

Healthcare plans can be HSA-eligible under ACA. What is necessary is limiting out-of-pocket amounts (including deductible) to $6,350 for individuals and $12,700 for families.

 

[audreyh1]

If you look through some of the threads in the Health forum you will see that some of us have received a cancellation notice. I received a notice from Aetna that my policy will only extend through 2014, after that it's ACA. You might be in for a shock when you shop for a comparable plan on ACA. The ACA plan that is most comparable to what I currently have has a 70% higher premium. One other member mentioned a 3X increase in premiums. Since you haven't received a notice yet you might be one of the lucky ones that will be able to keep your existing policy after 2014.

Interesting - because my huband's premium would go down slightly for an HSA eligible ACA plan with a lower max OOP.

Don't assume your premiums will go up. But even more important, you might be able to switch to a plan with significantly lower premiums if you're comfortable letting go of cheap copays for doctor visits. My husband now has this new option.

 

[dawdmorgan]

Have you had this plan prior to March 2010? If so and this appears to be a family deductible, you may have a grandfathered plan. I would have thought the company would have sent you info by now explaining your situation. My new carrier told me I was going to be cancelled next sept. (I knew this since I just signed with them), but also gave me the option ,which I took, to stay on through next December. The company I dropped because they wouldn't provide any info finally got around to offering me extension to next December also, but I already had switched plans. Keep in mind if you do have a grandfathered plan, you are at the mercy of insurance carrier to keep it grandfathered. If they make changes (you can google it to find out what would kill its status) to the plan, it could lose the status.

We have been on this plan since before 2010 I believe. I hope that is the reason it hasn't been cancelled and if we're lucky will continue. My assumption was that people like myself would not want to leave this plan for ACA since the premiums are much higher.... I'll keep my fingers crossed.

 

[dawdmorgan]

Interesting - because my huband's premium would go down slightly for an HSA eligible ACA plan with a lower max OOP.

Don't assume your premiums will go up. But even more important, you might be able to switch to a plan with significantly lower premiums if you're comfortable letting go of cheap copays for doctor visits. My husband now has this new option.

My current plan has a $10k family deductible, so I don't have copays...I pay everything up until the $10k limit. For the last 5 years since we've had a high deductible plan, we've paid an average of ~$500 per year in medical costs OOP - more than paid for by the tax break we get on the HSA contribution. I hope ACA offers something similar, but for $302 per month (ages 44 with 2 kids), I doubt it - especially since we won't qualify for subsidies.

 

[zinger1457]

I hope ACA offers something similar, but for $302 per month (ages 44 with 2 kids), I doubt it - especially since we won't qualify for subsidies.

Why don't you create an ACA account and find out? The site is still buggy but getting better. I seriously doubt ACA will offer you a lower premium but it's worth checking out.

 

[Cedar]

Why don't you create an ACA account and find out? The site is still buggy but getting better. I seriously doubt ACA will offer you a lower premium but it's worth checking out.

I agree. The best thing to do is create an ACA account. The second best is try this website below. I have found that it is right on with my premiums. Last night I was able to sign on and created an account and picked a plan. Took less than an hour. Prior to last night I have been very upset with the website, fighting it for hours, just to have it go down. Hope things are getting fixed. Good luck to everyone.

Health Insurance Exchanges

 

[audreyh1]

You don't have to create an ACA account to shop. If you know who are providers in your county, you can probably go directly to their websites to get quotes without having to create an account. All they need is gender, birthdate, county, non-smoker/smoker to quote you the premiums for various plans.

 

[zinger1457]

The second best is try this website below. I have found that it is right on with my premiums.
Health Insurance Exchanges

Checked out the website and although the premiums did seem to match ACA closely the subsidy it calculated was way off. The subsidy it gave me was about 27% higher than what I got from using both the Kaiser calculator and ACA.

 

[dawdmorgan]

Why don't you create an ACA account and find out? The site is still buggy but getting better. I seriously doubt ACA will offer you a lower premium but it's worth checking out.

Thanks for the suggestion. I went to ehealthinsurance.com which is where I found my plan originally - didn't have patience for the .gov site yet.... They appear to be offering the same type of policies (i.e. Gold, Silver, Bronze), and the lowest rate policy they have is $698 per month for me and the family. That is more than 2x what I am paying now. Deductible is $8,600 versus $10,000 today, but I never get close to that anyway. They also offer $35 copay, but I only pay ~$60 each time we see the doctor for regular visits today...

As I suspected, the costs have to go up (unsubsidized) because they are offering coverage for things I don't need or want to pay for - i.e. childbirth, IVF, etc... It seems like it will be impossible to get true catastrophic coverage anymore. I hope my policy holds on for a while.