My health insurance premium trend - HDHP, HSA eligible

[pixelville]

Got my latest health insurance premium increase. The plot shows how my premiums have increased in the 2 years that I have had HDHP policy with BCBS. No claims.
25% per year. 4 increases in 2 years.
Just wanted to share in case it helps someone plan their budget.
Feel free to share your trend lines.

 

[Mulligan]

Every time I get a wandering eye to move out of my state of MO, a post like yours reinforces why I should stay. I got my $5500 individual HD HSA plan through BCBS a month before you in 2010. My premium has went from $73 to $76 during this time. I certainly have been more fortunate than you. I would not be happy if I had to endure your premium increases.

 

[frank]

I wonder why the insurance is so cheap in mo? a lot cheaper than I am seeing elsewhere.

 

[Mulligan]

I wonder why the insurance is so cheap in mo? a lot cheaper than I am seeing elsewhere.

I have wondered that too. Maybe we don't go to the doctor much and die quickly with an illness. An insurance companies dream scenario.

 

[goneboarding]

Is there a thread on this forum or a site somewhere, which compares average insurance costs by state. I'm interested in an HD HSA plan also.

 

[frank]

be nice to see.

 

[Gotadimple]

Got my latest health insurance premium increase. The plot shows how my premiums have increased in the 2 years that I have had HDHP policy with BCBS. No claims.
25% per year. 4 increases in 2 years.
Just wanted to share in case it helps someone plan their budget.
Feel free to share your trend lines.

And in those two years, you have also gotten two years older. The last steeper increase may be because you aged into the next age band.

Your claim history would probably have nothing to do with the increases, because you are being rated in a pool of similar people -- their claims contribute to increases.

-- Rita

 

[easysurfer]

And in those two years, you have also gotten two years older. The last steeper increase may be because you aged into the next age band.

Your claim history would probably have nothing to do with the increases, because you are being rated in a pool of similar people -- their claims contribute to increases.

-- Rita

I hit a band increase last year. Remember getting a letter in the mail "Happy Birthday!...your rate just got increased." That wasn't the actual wording, but it kinda felt that way.

 

[MichaelB]

And in those two years, you have also gotten two years older. The last steeper increase may be because you aged into the next age band.

Your claim history would probably have nothing to do with the increases, because you are being rated in a pool of similar people -- their claims contribute to increases.

-- Rita

Yep. The bands are most often every 5 years and the cost step-ups get bigger.

Is there a thread on this forum or a site somewhere, which compares average insurance costs by state. I'm interested in an HD HSA plan also.

The cost of health insurance policies is amazingly difficult to compare. There are too many differences in coverage, reimbursement rate, and network, and usually the specific details one needs to make different policies comparable are not available. Individual health care policies are underwritten so you can't get a real price quote until you submit an application. An insurance agent can help.

The PPACA segments the US into three "rating areas" where costs vary between + to - 20%. Price differences greater than that should probably be attributed to coverage, not location.

One nice aspect of the state health care exchanges, due to be implemented by 1/2014, is the requirement for a minimum set of policies with standardized coverage. This will make it much easier to estimate and compare coverage costs between locations.

 

[goneboarding]

Yup, agree that comparisons can be quite difficult. Good to know that I can do some comparison shopping once the exchanges are put in place. Otherwise, I'm just going to move to MO... become Mulligan's neighbor.

 

[Packman]

Got my latest health insurance premium increase. The plot shows how my premiums have increased in the 2 years that I have had HDHP policy with BCBS. No claims.
25% per year. 4 increases in 2 years.
Just wanted to share in case it helps someone plan their budget.
Feel free to share your trend lines.

Is this for one person or more? Can you tell us your age(s)? I will need to buy health insurance soon as my DW will retire in the next year or two, so goodbye to her group plan for $2,200/year for both of us.

 

[nvestysly]

Interesting chart. DW and I only have a little over a year's worth of data so we've only experienced one rate increase so far - about 10%. She turned 50 this year (I think that's part of the rate increase) and I'm now 53 (but I'm told my next rate increase will be in the mid-50's age range). The premium for our $10k deductible policy is $356 per month.

A very similar UHC-One policy in a major metropolitan Missouri city is $150 per month less! WOW! I'm surprised at the difference.

DW and I found the rates quoted on www.ehealthinsurance.com were very accurate (for us). I don't think you can compare by state. However, you can simply enter different zip codes and see which locales would be lower/higher.

 

[JoeWras]

Location really matters. My Megacorp's plan which I can buy into is quite pricey. I think it has a lot to do with most retirees being based in California.

I just did a comparison of zip codes (as suggested above) with the same company and same plan (HSA 5500) and in CA it is $284, and in NC $176. I realize that the plan may have some differences although the general parameters are the same. Understood. But in general, from internet searches, and from what I hear people say, the state difference is quite real.

This board has helped me open my eyes to HI alternatives. When the time comes, I can fall back to my Megacorp's plan if need be. But I'm pretty healthy and assume I can qualify on the open market for normal rates.

I don't know, but I'm sure going to check it out.

And of course, to add to the confusion, the laws are changing which adds another mixer to the formula.

 

[Mulligan]

Interesting chart. DW and I only have a little over a year's worth of data so we've only experienced one rate increase so far - about 10%. She turned 50 this year (I think that's part of the rate increase) and I'm now 53 (but I'm told my next rate increase will be in the mid-50's age range). The premium for our $10k deductible policy is $356 per month.

A very similar UHC-One policy in a major metropolitan Missouri city is $150 per month less! WOW! I'm surprised at the difference.

DW and I found the rates quoted on www.ehealthinsurance.com were very accurate (for us). I don't think you can compare by state. However, you can simply enter different zip codes and see which locales would be lower/higher.

Mo is a cheap state on both ends of the spectrum. Healthy people needing relatively cheap health insurance and those who don't care about their health. Cheapest cigarette taxes (17 cents a pack) in the nation.

 

[kramer]

From mid-2007 to mid-2012, my HDHP health insurance increased at an annual rate of just over 23%. I went from age 41 to 46 during that time period.

I live abroad and recently dropped my USA-based health insurance.

 

[DoingHomework]

And in those two years, you have also gotten two years older. The last steeper increase may be because you aged into the next age band.

-- Rita

Just yesterday I spent a couple of hours trying to model this. I got quotes for a HD plan for my wife and I. We are retiring in about 2.5 years so I assumed we were 3 years older (early/mid 50s) and got quotes for each age through medicare eligibility. I did this for Arizona. My conclusion was that there is about a 5% increase per year for aging through 65. That might vary dramatically by company and state but that's what I found. I was also looking at new plans meaning there might have been some startup discount involved though I kind of doubt it.

I did this about a year ago too and my notes from back then show that rates have gone up about 3% since then in addition to the extra for aging.

 

[Mulligan]

Just yesterday I spent a couple of hours trying to model this. I got quotes for a HD plan for my wife and I. We are retiring in about 2.5 years so I assumed we were 3 years older (early/mid 50s) and got quotes for each age through medicare eligibility. I did this for Arizona. My conclusion was that there is about a 5% increase per year for aging through 65. That might vary dramatically by company and state but that's what I found. I was also looking at new plans meaning there might have been some startup discount involved though I kind of doubt it.

I did this about a year ago too and my notes from back then show that rates have gone up about 3% since then in addition to the extra for aging.

That is what I did in my basis to drop group health and go on an individual plan a few years ago. The increases from my age to 62 wasn't that much. Out of curiously I just check my current plan of $76 a month and compared it again to what I would pay in 14 years at 62. It currently shows $109 for same plan of the $5500 deductible. Percentage wise it is a lot more, but dollar wise not really a big deal to me.

 

[JoeWras]

Did I tell you all that this board is so helpful? This is a great discussion.

Just did DoingHomework's exercise on one plan in NC, and amazingly, the same 5% increase per year comes through.

This info is really helpful for modelling my eventual choice between an individual plan or sticking with the group plan I'll have access to soon.

 

[nvestysly]

Reading the last few posts I wonder if I'm missing something. While there may be relatively small premium changes from one age to the next (say 51 to 52) for this year, that does not address the issue of premium increases from one year to the next. The only way to understand more about the potential premium increases is to check the rates every year.

I monitored the premium for retirees from mega-corp back when I was working. Every year I would contact HR and ask to review the retiree package even though I wasn't eligible at the time. HR thought I was crazy but they humored me and provided the data anyway. Based on my memory, the premium increases from one year to the next were typically around 10% or more.

It's certainly helpful to know how much the premium changes from one age group to the next higher group but the significant changes in insurance premium seems to come from one year to the next. Based on first-hand experience listed on this thread and others it's not unusual to see premium increases in the 8 - 15% (or more) range for subsequent years.

So... while it's useful to see the changes in premium due to age, be sure to consider the premium changes from one year to the next. Okay, I'll stop

 

[JoeWras]

nvestysly, what you are talking about is a given. Premiums as a whole are going up yearly, and yes we all must take that into account.

The discussion detoured a bit to the second aspect, and that is the yearly age-based change. BOTH must be considered. And I think we were looking at the OP's graph and realizing both must be a factor in that raise.

What I got out of this is to be aware of trying to model my costs based on a random quote for a 50 year old. That would be a bad way to estimate costs during retirement because the 50 year old policy is cheap compared to later years.

If I just apply say at 10% yearly increase on this for 15 years, it is not sufficient, because on top of that (or under it) is a year by year increase based on age.

Got to put both factors into the formula.