ACA (BCBS) rate hikes?

[bobbyr]

we are applying for farm bureau private insurance (United Health Care plus) for 62/57 good health couple - looking pretty reasonable. didn't qualify for aca subsidies due to HSA.

At first glance, it looks like it will cost us half of the cheapest aca policy... of course, we are in the early stages of the process.

 

[erkevin]

I thought I was the winner until I saw Lagniappe's post. My wife and I's BCBS Tennessee Bronze plan is going up from $1325 to $1348 (obviously, no subsidy).

 

[wompo]

Here in Nevada bc/bs bronze HMO going from 900.00 to 1000.00 per month with OOP and deductible going up 400.00.

 

[simple girl]

Our BlueOptions bronze plan premium is going up 6.8%; deductible going up $850 pp.

Doesn't seem too unreasonable, thankfully.

 

[conversationalphrase]

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

I have read that to make the switchover easier you should make your wife the primary insured this year. We're not there yet so I don't have first hand experience.

 

[Sue J]

One more thing for when one of you changes to Medicare and drops your ACA plan. I tried to do this online and ran into issues. I called HealthCare.gov and they said that the best way to do this is to call on the 1st of the month when you start Medicare and tell them to end your ACA plan.

So on May 1st, 2021 call them and end your plan. They will take you through the steps to make the "life change" that allows you to end your plan.

Also, when the ACA plan prices become available for 2021 (preview usually becomes available in late October, any day now!) you can put in your info and income and see what plan options you have and the prices for Jan-April when you insure both of you. Then go back in the info and change it so that you are insuring just your wife. You'll see the difference in subsidy between the two situations.

Here's the link for the preview page from last year. You should be able to preview plans for 2021 soon without signing in.
https://www.healthcare.gov/apply-and-enroll/health-insurance-plans-estimator-overview/

 

[jim584672]

Probably a lot of the gains are age related increases. The closer you get to 65 the rates start to really pop. NY and VT are the only two states that don't age rate.

 

[Dtail]

Probably a lot of the gains are age related increases. The closer you get to 65 the rates start to really pop. NY and VT are the only two states that don't age rate.

I wonder how true that is with the ACA plans, but not stating it is not true, just wondering.
Perhaps I will ask Florida Blue to run the numbers using different ages, plus when the Healthcare site opens on Nov 1st, I can test it out myself.

 

[orchid55]

The closer one gets to 65 the larger the year to year increase in premiums. I think it is less than one percent for younger folks and about 4% going from 63 to 64. Your premium increase has two parts - one based on your age and the other a straight increase.

 

[audreyh1]

I wonder how true that is with the ACA plans, but not stating it is not true, just wondering.
Perhaps I will ask Florida Blue to run the numbers using different ages, plus when the Healthcare site opens on Nov 1st, I can test it out myself.

Yes, just get online quotes from your insurer for your age and your age-1 and you’ll see the difference.

 

[saydiver]

FL Blue HSA Bronze plan, age 62, male, SWFL:

Currently $1218.57 and new rate will be $1262.97.

 

[Dtail]

FL Blue HSA Bronze plan, age 62, male, SWFL:

Currently $1218.57 and new rate will be $1262.97.

So here is one example where the rate is NOT soaring due to age. Our relevant ages are 61/60.

 

[saydiver]

So here is one example where the rate is NOT soaring due to age. Our relevant ages are 61/60.

Are you kidding? You don't think over $1200/pp a month with a $6,000 deductible is not soaring? No it isn't soaring too much from 61 to 62, but that's because the rate has already soared. In 2014 his rate was less than $400(no subsidy) for similar PPO coverage, although in a different state(TX).

 

[Dtail]

Are you kidding? You don't think over $1200/pp a month with a $6,000 deductible is not soaring? No it isn't soaring too much from 61 to 62, but that's because the rate has already soared. In 2014 his rate was less than $400(no subsidy) for similar PPO coverage, although in a different state(TX).

You missed my point. My point is referencing the differential JUST based on aging, not whether the overall costs are too high.

 

[saydiver]

You missed my point. My point is referencing the differential JUST based on aging, not whether the overall costs are too high.

FLBlue rates for 2021 are already online.

Here's the difference based on aging:

The same plan for a 42 yo male is $582. For a 52 yo male it's $858 and for a 64 yo male it's 1,318.80.

Also for 2021 the deductible is no longer $6,000 a year. To keep rates lower the deductible has been raised to $6,850/pp.

 

[niven]

Our ACA bronze plan premium went down 2.6% from 2019 to 2020. I just got information from the insurer that the premium for 2021 will be another 4% lower next year for the same plan.

 

[Dtail]

FLBlue rates for 2021 are already online.

Here's the difference based on aging:

The same plan for a 42 yo male is $582. For a 52 yo male it's $858 and for a 64 yo male it's 1,318.80.

Also for 2021 the deductible is no longer $6,000 a year. To keep rates lower the deductible has been raised to $6,850/pp.

Missed the point again.
Premiums for many in Florida who are between 60 and 65 went up in one year by much more monies than what would theoretically be due just for aging reasons.
Not talking about the difference of 10 years in age.
If you want to keep going, I will keep going too.........

 

[MichaelB]

Missed the point again.
Premiums for many in Florida who are between 60 and 65 went up in one year by much more monies than what would theoretically be due just for aging reasons.
Not talking about the difference of 10 years in age.
If you want to keep going, I will keep going too.........

The premium for a 64 year old can be no more than 3X the premium for a 26 year old. Once that structure is in place, the % price increase for the 64 year old has to be the same as for everyone else.

 

[Dtail]

The premium for a 64 year old can be no more than 3X the premium for a 26 year old. Once that structure is in place, the % price increase for the 64 year old has to be the same as for everyone else.

In different words, effectively what I was saying.

 

[bobandsherry]

It appears that FLBlue may have revamped their plan offerings for 2021, making some of the Silver plans more affordable/desirable. While I can't see plans with subsidy yet for 2021 I can see the plans w/o subsidy. Many new Silver plans, so unless those are only available off-market w/o subsidy I'll have to wait and see. Lowest priced Silver plan for 2021 is only a few bucks more/month than Bronze plan I currently have (it was almost $300/mo gap last year), lower deductible and DrCoPay. Florida has seen increase in new providers into the market, used to be 2 for my area and now 6 so will assume that's causing FLBlue to restructure their plans.

 

[saydiver]

Missed the point again.
Premiums for many in Florida who are between 60 and 65 went up in one year by much more monies than what would theoretically be due just for aging reasons.
Not talking about the difference of 10 years in age.
If you want to keep going, I will keep going too.........

I didn't miss your point. For ACA individual plans there are only three factors used to calculate rates. They are age, geographic location and tobacco use. PERIOD!

The large increase could be a correction of a prior year mistake or even anticipation of future costs. I recently saw an article where some insurance companies have COVID-19 vaccine costs already built in and others do not.

 

[Earl E Retyre]

Just received our BCBS packet in the mail. Our Tx Bronze Plan rates are going up 13% from $1,388/mos to $1,573. I hope ACA continues so we can continue getting a discount.

 

[meleana]

I’m in NH which has no state plan so on Federal Silver. I have very little income and have been paying $40 per month. I have not received anything about 2021 rates. A broker I dealt with said if my income will be the same next year it will renew automatically. I have no clue as to what the premium will be.

 

[Maidensong]

Last year, my DH went on Medicare. When I was on ACA by myself, my monthly payment was more than what we'd paid for both of us pre-Medicare (over $600 a month for the cheapest silver plan in MO just for me). Plus the DH had to pay his portion for Part A & B ($144.60 a month) as well as start his Plan G supplement ($126 a month) and Part D for $13.20 a month. During the transition, we paid nearly $900 a month for health insurance. (Not counting all the co-pays for care & meds!) Then when I started Medicare in February of this year, our month expenditure for health insurance dropped to $576.30 a month. We've had no fewer than three house payments that were less than that, but I look at it as insurance for not only our health, but as a protection against financial ruin. The ACA deductibles were brutal.

 

[davidfin]

I transitioned last April. For me, I dispensed with the ACA for Q1 2020 since my income disqualified me from any subsidy. It took awhile but I managed my MAGI to maximize the subsidy until I consumed my ready reserve of cash. I was a quarter early, but not bad as I maximized the subsidy for 6 years. Instead I found the least expensive policy that was High Deductible & qualified for HSA. Kaiser fit the bill for $690/month. Never used it except to get a free shingles vaccine.