ACA (BCBS) rate hikes?

[RunningBum]

When I've checked the off-market plans in my area, they were the same plans and prices. But I guess I should keep checking every year.

 

[BeachOrCity]

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.

I sat in on a rate commissioner hearing this year.
Insurance companies didn’t want to talk about it, but when pressed, admitted costs have been lower because of all the deferred procedures.
But they are terrified a surge in Covid will flip it the other way big time.

 

[BeachOrCity]

So I got my proposed 35% Non subsidized rate increase earlier this year.
Did my research and looked at their filing. The catastrophic plan had a 49% claims ratio.

So I went and testified at the insurance rate hearing. New insurance commissioner in town. Made a big stink.

Net of it was they lowered it to 5% increase.

Turns out catastrophic plans don’t have all the claims ratio protections as the metal level plans.

But in the end the head of the local Aca insurance exchange Called to thank me for publicly shaming the local BCBS provider which was a large part of how they got them down.

 

[MBSC]

2021 ACA plans are on HealthSherpa.com. If you visited the site recently, delete the HealthSherpa cookies in your browser to see the new webpage. If you get a Special Enrollment page, choose coverage loss. It defaults to 2021 plans.

My area has a new insurer (Molina) for 2021. We also have "expanded bronze" plans (56%-65% actuarial value) in addition to Bronze (56%-62%).

 

[PaunchyPirate]

2021 ACA plans are on HealthSherpa.com. If you visited the site recently, delete the HealthSherpa cookies in your browser to see the new webpage. If you get a Special Enrollment page, choose coverage loss. It defaults to 2021 plans.

My area has a new insurer (Molina) for 2021. We also have "expanded bronze" plans (56%-65% actuarial value) in addition to Bronze (56%-62%).

[Edited to add -- ignore my statement below. PA has left the federal exchange, so probably won't be in healthsherpa either.)

I think the HealthSherpa update might still be in progress. I cleared my browser cookies/cache and gave it a try. I see a link at the top of the page that shows 2021 plans as being available and "Start Shopping". When I click it, the next few screens still refer to 2020 and the plans it eventually shows me are still from 2020. At least that's my results here in PA.

What is odd is that I also see a "Expanded Bronze" label on a couple BCBS plans. I don't recall seeing that before. But when I drill into the details of the plans, the documents still show they are for 2020 and not 2021.

I think they are updating this weekend. It's not surprising that they don't update all states at the same time.

 

[Sarah S]

Do you think it may because PA is switching to their own exchange? MA has its own and I have never been able to use healthsherpa. I think it is only for plans through the federal exchange?

 

[PaunchyPirate]

Do you think it may because PA is switching to their own exchange? MA has its own and I have never been able to use healthsherpa. I think it is only for plans through the federal exchange?

Doh! Yes. I'm sure that's what the problem is. And I knew this and still went to healthsherpa. My bad. PA is indeed starting its own exchange on November 1. I've been checking the new PA exchange site daily -- pennie.com

Sorry to confuse anyone. Carry on with your healthsherpa research!

 

[Born2Fish]

2021 ACA plans are on HealthSherpa.com. If you visited the site recently, delete the HealthSherpa cookies in your browser to see the new webpage. If you get a Special Enrollment page, choose coverage loss. It defaults to 2021 plans.

My area has a new insurer (Molina) for 2021. We also have "expanded bronze" plans (56%-65% actuarial value) in addition to Bronze (56%-62%).

Thanks for the heads up on HealthSherpa. I'm in NC.

2021 BCBS Bronze (broad network) HDHP w/HSA...Me(62) + DW(57)...$1849/month premium (last year $1979)...fully subsidized, so $0/month net premium, $14000 deductible.

 

[sengsational]

So I went and testified at the insurance rate hearing. New insurance commissioner in town. Made a big stink.

Thanks for doing that. There aren't many things we can do that make a difference to the medical industrial complex, and too many people think complaining on Facebook is "doing something"

 

[BoodaGazelle]

Thanks again to all new replies.. it is still a little mind-blowing to see these un-subsidized costs.

 

[Mulligan]

Thanks again to all new replies.. it is still a little mind-blowing to see these un-subsidized costs.

Anyone who is retired and has a live in still working should inquire about “domestic partners” jumping on the company plan especially if its subsidized. Finally after foot dragging of laziness from both sides my GF for over well over a decade is moving in. Next year after “waiting period” is over I can kick my POS ACA plan of $670 a month with $6000 deductible to the curb... And replace it with a robust network $200 annual deductible which also has dental and vision thrown in, all for the affordable amount of $150 a month for me.. My turn to grab a piece of the subsidy cost shifting game!

 

[Doingitwrong]

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'm doing that math, in Texas, on this now as DW turns 65 in May.
Basically, it'll cost $86 MORE to cover just me on the cheapest Bronze plan than to cover both of us. LOL.

Just estimates from BCBS Texas site-

Joint BCBS HMO 301 $1788.18 - $1335.00 (APTC) = $453.18/month for January - April 2021

Just me BCBS HMO 301 $921.27 - 382.00 (APTC) = $539.27/month May - December 2021

 

[catotx]

2021 ACA plans are on HealthSherpa.com. If you visited the site recently, delete the HealthSherpa cookies in your browser to see the new webpage. If you get a Special Enrollment page, choose coverage loss. It defaults to 2021 plans.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[Sojourner]

Anyone who is retired and has a live in still working should inquire about “domestic partners” jumping on the company plan especially if its subsidized. Finally after foot dragging of laziness from both sides my GF for over well over a decade is moving in. Next year after “waiting period” is over I can kick my POS ACA plan of $670 a month with $6000 deductible to the curb... And replace it with a robust network $200 annual deductible which also has dental and vision thrown in, all for the affordable amount of $150 a month for me.. My turn to grab a piece of the subsidy cost shifting game!

This is exactly what I'm hoping to do sometime within the next 12-18 months. For now, I seem to be stuck with my crappy, bronze-level ACA plan that has been soaring in price every year. Only five years ago, back in 2015, my monthly premium was roughly $300, but it's nearly doubled since then, and is set to rise to $615 next year. Outrageous.

 

[Mansderm]

There is no longer a penalty for not having health insurance. I thought the whole premise for the ACA was that everyone would enroll, therefore young healthy individuals paying premiums would help keep the cost of premiums down for everyone else. With no penalty, jobs up in the air, I am supposing quite a few people have dropped their enrollment and therefore all of us who continue with coverage will have to pay more. That, on top of the Covid situation with possible long term residual effects, has presented uncertainty for the insurance industry which will be passed on to the consumer.

 

[sengsational]

This past September, for the first time since I've had an ACA plan (and I've been on it since inception since it was instrumental in my decision to FIRE), I got a rebate because they (BCBSNC) didn't pay out enough. $18.93. Who-hoo! Party at sengsational's house!

 

[foxfirev5]

Just got my corporate retiree annual enrollment and the bcbs plan premium has gone up 27.5%! Luckily (maybe?) I'll be on Medicare in April and DW at year end. There's got to be a better way.

 

[RunningBum]

https://www.kff.org/private-insuran...xchanges-and-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-rates/ has a summary of rate hikes by state and insurer. There are some large hikes, but also some decreases.

 

[orchid55]

The last figures that I saw showed only a 2% drop in enrollment due to the rollback of the mandate. It turns out that those who didn't want the insurance simply weren't buying it - a penalty was not enough to force them to buy a product they saw no need for.

 

[Markola]

The last figures that I saw showed only a 2% drop in enrollment due to the rollback of the mandate. It turns out that those who didn't want the insurance simply weren't buying it - a penalty was not enough to force them to buy a product they saw no need for.

No one needs it, of course, until they need it.

 

[Dtail]

This past September, for the first time since I've had an ACA plan (and I've been on it since inception since it was instrumental in my decision to FIRE), I got a rebate because they (BCBSNC) didn't pay out enough. $18.93. Who-hoo! Party at sengsational's house!

Got around $400 rebate from BCBS FLA. Nice rebate.

 

[sengsational]

https://www.kff.org/private-insuran...xchanges-and-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-rates/ has a summary of rate hikes by state and insurer. There are some large hikes, but also some decreases.

Hmmm. Not sure what to think about this data from KFF.

BCBS of NC - Rate Change: 4.10% Impact of Covid-19: Unknown

I can say from the letter BCBSNC sent me that 4.1% is "wrong". From the letter they sent (about a bronze, Charlotte, NC, non-smoker, age 62):

This reflects a [2020] monthly premium of $1,341.66... Your new monthly payment starting in January...This reflects an estimated monthly premium of $1,605.47

That's a 19.7% increase. So I'm having a hard time reconciling the KFF reporting. I don't see that getting one year older accounts for a 15.6% increase. Oh, and they've increased the deductible again, as they have every year since it started.

 

[RunningBum]

Hmmm. Not sure what to think about this data from KFF.



I can say from the letter BCBSNC sent me that 4.1% is "wrong". From the letter they sent (about a bronze, Charlotte, NC, non-smoker, age 62):



That's a 19.7% increase. So I'm having a hard time reconciling the KFF reporting. I don't see that getting one year older accounts for a 15.6% increase. Oh, and they've increased the deductible again, as they have every year since it started.

I don't know. Since they list insurers but not each plan, maybe some plans went up more than others.

ETA: And yes, the increased deductible, which is certainly higher than inflation in the cases I've seen, is a hidden rate increase. But I do evaluate the total cost of plans, including what happens when I hit the deductible and then Max OOP.

From the looks of it, I'll be renewing the plan I had last year, but I always do an analysis of all plans available to me each year.

 

[orchid55]

As far as the deductibles go they will increase every year as long as the underlying cost of healthcare increases. The ACA mandates that the metal levels cover you at 60%, 70% ,etc.
If they don't increase the deductibles then the plans become too generous and don't stay in their metal levels. The deductibles will only go down if the cost of office visits, MRIs, meds etc. does down.

 

[Born2Fish]

Hmmm. Not sure what to think about this data from KFF.



I can say from the letter BCBSNC sent me that 4.1% is "wrong". From the letter they sent (about a bronze, Charlotte, NC, non-smoker, age 62):



That's a 19.7% increase. So I'm having a hard time reconciling the KFF reporting. I don't see that getting one year older accounts for a 15.6% increase. Oh, and they've increased the deductible again, as they have every year since it started.

I noticed that NC rates shown on HealthSherpa vary considerably based on which NC county/zip code that you use.

I am in 28584, Onslow County, BCBS HDHP/HSA (Broad Network). Onslow rates are MUCH lower than 27803 (Rocky Mount), 27379 (Yanceyville). 27379 did NOT offer a BCBS HDHP (Broad Network).