ACA (BCBS) rate hikes?

[BoodaGazelle]

I just received my letter from FL Blue... they are telling me that my Blue Select plan, which for 2020 was only $41.76 per month, is going up to $252.69.

Now, I am in the process of getting an appointment with them to go over everything, but I was wondering if any other Floridians had seen something similar.

Another question just popped into mind... I will turn 65 in May. I assume that as I start Medicare, that my ACA premium will drop as it will just be my wife afterwards. Has anyone gone thru that type of life-situation change, from ACA to Medicare during the year? Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Mitch

 

[MrsHaloFIRE]

Good gracious!

 

[Aerides]

I have Florida Blue, and my plan went from something like $409 to $436, so I didn't really blink.

 

[BoodaGazelle]

@MRSHaloFIRE - I don’t make very much money.

 

[bobandsherry]

I'm with Florida Blue too, a Bronze plan, going from $71 to $262. That's with an increase in subsidy of almost $200. Waiting to see programs offered and what else to possibly consider.

 

[Dtail]

My BCBS Silver 1443 plan went up in a preliminary notice from 119 to 258, so wondering too what's going on besides all the negative talk about dismantling the ACA?

 

[BoodaGazelle]

I am sure that variations on last year's income could factor in, along with (of course) normal rate hikes.. but I wasn't that far off on my estimated vs. actual income.

 

[bobandsherry]

Florida Blue isn't estimating any change in income, they wouldn't be able to do that.

 

[Sarah S]

My guess is there is a comparatively cheap benchmark silver plan versus last year. Your subsidy is based on that not whatever you chose

 

[rodi]

Not Florida and not BCBS... but my Kaiser bronze HDHP when up about $100/month for myself and 2 teenagers. The deductible/max OOP also went up. But I expected this.

 

[Sue J]

Another question just popped into mind... I will turn 65 in May. I assume that as I start Medicare, that my ACA premium will drop as it will just be my wife afterwards. Has anyone gone thru that type of life-situation change, from ACA to Medicare during the year? Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Mitch

When you start Medicare and your wife is still on ACA, you will still use the same household income but will only need insurance for one of you. Most likely that will mean a smaller subsidy and therefore a larger premium payment on your wife's ACA plan.

When I started Medicare and DH was still on ACA we lost about $250/mo in subsidy, just as an example. He's just 2 months younger than me so we only had to deal with that for 2 months.

 

[BoodaGazelle]

@Sue - wow... I guess the party has to end sometime! Still, we will have gotten a small benefit from ACA for about 2.5 years once DW get on Medicare....

 

[RunningBum]

My guess is there is a comparatively cheap benchmark silver plan versus last year. Your subsidy is based on that not whatever you chose

I saw a similar jump in my post-subsidy premium a couple years ago. The base was very close, but my subsidy was ~$200 less, due to the 2nd lowest cost silver plan, or whatever it is.

 

[Dtail]

Florida Blue isn't estimating any change in income, they wouldn't be able to do that.

Correct.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

DW's letter stated an increase of $35pm in Florida, but not worries as we will adjust MAGI to compensate.

 

[CRLLS]

When you start Medicare and your wife is still on ACA, you will still use the same household income but will only need insurance for one of you. Most likely that will mean a smaller subsidy and therefore a larger premium payment on your wife's ACA plan.

When I started Medicare and DH was still on ACA we lost about $250/mo in subsidy, just as an example. He's just 2 months younger than me so we only had to deal with that for 2 months.

^+1 Very similar situation happened with us. For the interim, our medical insurance costs (Medicare and ACA) went up noticeably until we were both on Medicare. Do your homework to be sure how your situation might be affected

 

[jim584672]

Its has to be related to the SLCSP (second lowest cost Silver plan) benchmark changing, that is what is the basis of the subsidy calculation. Maybe a new low cost plan started in your area.

 

[sengsational]

BCBSNC said ours went up $263 per year, or a 20% increase. In 12 days I'll see what the SLCSP is and, to mis-quote the lone ranger I'm hoping for "high-high silver!"

 

[Sojourner]

Here in metro Atlanta, my BCBS bronze plan is going from $530/month (no subsidy) to $600/month. That's a 13% annual increase, running way ahead of general inflation.

It would be one thing if I were actually getting some tangible value out of it, but I'm a healthy guy in my early 50s, nonsmoker, with quite minimal healthcare needs. Just a yearly physical and the very occasional visit to a dermatologist or something like that. Paying over $7,000 per year for insurance that doesn't even match GoodRx pricing is pretty galling, to say the least. It's looking very likely that medical insurance will consume roughly 9-10% of my entire next year's spending budget.

 

[bobandsherry]

Would be curious how much the Covid-19 pandemic is influencing rates. Have to imagine much higher costs for treatment, something is driving up the costs.

 

[BoodaGazelle]

FL Blue costs

FWIW, I just set up our appointment with FL Blue for Nov. 1. I expect we can review any new plans and try to adjust accordingly.


Thanks again to all who participated!

 

[audreyh1]

People are a year older. That also affects the price increase.

 

[USGrant1962]

Would be curious how much the Covid-19 pandemic is influencing rates. Have to imagine much higher costs for treatment, something is driving up the costs.

There are pluses and minuses due to Covid. Covid care is a plus to costs, but all the skipped routine care is a minus. People are not getting their routine physicals, tests, etc. Hospitals were laying off staff due to cancelled non-essential procedures and that continues in many places.

KFF published a good summary just yesterday:

https://www.kff.org/private-insuran...xchanges-and-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-rates/

Contrary to some states, Maryland is going down noticeably. And recently we got a rebate for last year's overcharges. I think this was partly due to implementation of reinsurance.

 

[Dtail]

Its has to be related to the SLCSP (second lowest cost Silver plan) benchmark changing, that is what is the basis of the subsidy calculation. Maybe a new low cost plan started in your area.

Not sure this is the reason, as the preliminary letters stated the gross costs and kept the subsidies the same.
Last year my premium went from 67 to 119 and the SLCSP was definitely most of the reason. They allowed a relatively unknown company post these artificially low premiums with poor services, but it counted.

 

[Lagniappe]

My Florida Blue premium on a Bronze HSA policy is going from $627 to $797. No subsidy.

Insane.