ACA Rate Increases For 2023

[SecondCor521]

No way should it be $276 a month with $23K income on the ACA, it should be almost nothing.

Perhaps the CPA was using the wrong numbers. Maybe they heard $43K instead of $23K, or they mistyped it.

Perhaps they got other details of the family wrong - age, number of family members, smoking status.

Perhaps they were providing the unsubsidized premium instead of the subsidized premium.

Perhaps they got the wrong plan.

Anyway, I'd just check with the ACA myself. It's not hard to enter in the information and click on the plan to see it with your own eyes.

 

[WannabeRetired]

https://www.healthcare.gov/see-plans

This might be helpful. You can see plans and prices for ACA insurance here.

 

[GTFan]

Or healthsherpa.com, which is also easy to use. Agree with jim that $276 is way too high for a Silver with that income.

 

[Sarah S]

The subsidy is determined based on the benchmark silver plan Wallygator, you specified a blue cross plan. Do you know how its price compares to the benchmark? Here in Massachusetts blue cross is one of the most expensive plans. If you choose a more expensive plan than the benchmark you pay the difference

 

[wallygator69]

The subsidy is determined based on the benchmark silver plan Wallygator, you specified a blue cross plan. Do you know how itsrice compares to the benchmar? Here in Massachusetts blue cross is one of the most expensive plans. If you choose a more expensive plan than the benchmark you pay the difference

DING DING DING we have a winner.


Yes it is the plan and South Carolina!


Thanks


Wally

 

[SecondCor521]

OP, if you're interested, Idaho's 2023 rates changes are here:

https://apps.doi.idaho.gov/main/publicforms/RateReview?Indiv=Yes&Year=2023

Mostly slightly down across insurers and metal levels.

I think these rates are not officially final but become so on October 1st.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Has congress extended the American Rescue Plan which I thought was set to expire at the end of 2022?

 

[erkevin]

If you are specifically referring to the enhanced ACA subsidies, the answer is "yes"

 

[teej1985]

Has congress extended the American Rescue Plan which I thought was set to expire at the end of 2022?

Through 2025 if I recall correctly.

 

[SecondCor521]

Through 2025 if I recall correctly.

Yes, end of 2025.

 

[scrabbler1]

For those of you who live in New York, I found this press release which lists the overall approved rate changes for health insurers.

https://www.dfs.ny.gov/reports_and_publications/press_releases/pr202208171

DFS INDIVIDUAL MARKET RATE ACTIONS 

Company

Requested 2023 Rate Actions
Approved 2023 Rate Actions
DFS Modification (In Percentage Points)

CDPHP*
28.4%
16.5%
-11.9%

Emblem (HIP)*

34.6%
9.0%
-25.6%

Excellus*

14.0%
10.0%
-4.0%

Fidelis (NY Quality Healthcare Corp)*

23.2%
12.4%
-10.8%

Healthfirst Ins Co, Inc.

12.6%
8.0%
-4.6%

Healthfirst PHSP, Inc.*

13.0%
8.3%
-4.7%

HealthPlus HP, LLC (Formerly Empire)*

6.9%
0.5%
-6.4%

Highmark (Formerly HealthNow)*

20.5%
12.8%
-7.7%

IHBC*

10.2%
6.1%
-4.1%

MetroPlus*

13.0%
8.1%
-4.9%

MVP Health Plan*

19.2%
10.1%
-9.1%

Oscar*

14.6%
6.5%
-8.1%

UnitedHealthcare of NY Inc.*

16.1%
9.2%
-6.9%

Summary

18.7%
9.7%
-9.0%

 

[erkevin]

The example that scrabbler provided shows exactly how valuable the 8.5% cap that the ACA enhanced subsidies provides are. Rates are going to be up in a big way for most.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

The 2023 Health Insurance rates for Pennsylvania have been finalized and announced in spreadsheet form. They were actually released on Sept 27th, but I was out of town. I don't see a post about it, so I'll post this info.

You'll need to be able to read an Excel spreadsheet and you'll probably need to know how to use Excel a little bit to find the information you want for your county.

The easiest way to see your pricing is on this page:
https://www.insurance.pa.gov/Consumers/HealthInsuranceFilings/Pages/ACA-Health-Rate-Filings.aspx

And then download the spreadsheet using the link that says "2023 Final Rates Public Use Tool". The rate data is on the "Rate by County" tab. Filter at the top by age. You can also filter any of the columns to find just your county, specific medal levels, etc. Be sure to note the "On/Off Exchange" column. If you're buying thru the Pennie exchange, you'll want to set this filter to "On/Off".

My current plan is being carried into 2023. Without factoring in my age increase, the base plan rate went from $1022 to $1088 per month (with no subsidies). So not a huge or unexpected increase. This is for a Gold PPO plan.

With my new age (60), the rate increases to $1135 before any subsidy. I'll definitely consider keeping the same plan, but will review the plan details once they are released on November 1st.

For my county, the Second Lowest Cost Silver Plan (SLCSP) rose comparably in price. So I expect ACA Subsidies will also rise accordingly.

Of note to me, is that they have added a Gold PPO HSA plan this year in my county. It is from my current carrier -- Highmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield. So I will crunch the numbers to see if it is to my advantage to switch to get the HSA. I don't currently have any HSA money, so this would be new to me. I'll investigate.

 

[SecondCor521]

Coverage continued for my Idaho Bronze with HSA, and my rate went up about $13 which appears to include the rate increase and age-related increase.

Didn't look at SLCSP, but I'm guessing I'll still have $0 premium after subsidy again in 2023.

@PaunchyPirate, I like HSAs and think they work well for me. I'm probably going to max mine out for the next several years until I think compounding will result in me having "enough". Fidelity generally gets high marks, so I would recommend looking at them as your HSA custodian. Zero fees, wide range of low cost investments, nice website, and if you want, you can hook up a Fidelity 2% cash back Visa and put your rewards into your HSA to get full 2% credit and a tax deduction.

 

[EastWest Gal]

I went onto our Pennsylvania exchange site and figures out when the premium subsidy disappears. For a single person in their 60s, it disappears completely at slightly above $165K and for a couple, $330K. Our local premiums are higher than in many states.

So, since for the majority of people, their premium is based on income, the rate increase isn't terribly relevant until 2026.

I agree that Fidelity is the place to have an HSA.

 

[tmitchell]

I just got my notice. CA bronze HDHP going up to $820 for one person. Insane.

I’m starting to wonder if Roth conversions are worth it. I’ll be paying $20k in taxes on my first one for this year!

 

[SecondCor521]

I just got my notice. CA bronze HDHP going up to $820 for one person. Insane.

I’m starting to wonder if Roth conversions are worth it. I’ll be paying $20k in taxes on my first one for this year!

It depends on your overall tax situation. But I do think one should take into effect the loss of ACA subsidy as an additional parallel tax system when deciding how much to Roth convert.

 

[Freedom56]

Our Blue Shield CA Bronze PPO is increasing from $1559 per month to $1889 per month for two people. We receive no subsidies. It's a lot of money for annual preventive check-ups. Only one plan on the exchange (Blue Shield PPO) provides access to the three best providers in-network (UCLA, Cedars-Sinai, USC Keck) so Blue Shield has no competition.

 

[SevenUp]

It depends on your overall tax situation. But I do think one should take into effect the loss of ACA subsidy as an additional parallel tax system when deciding how much to Roth convert.

+1

Roth Conversion and Capital Gains On ACA Health Insurance describes one way to do just that.

 

[NewEnglander]

Our Connecticut Bronze plan increased from $1670 per month to $2105 per month for the two of us. This is the lowest cost Bronze plan for our state. I can just imagine where this is going over the next few years.

 

[jim584672]

New York Silver 2023 plans in my county run from $661 to $734 (no subsidies). Bronze 2023 plans run from $509 to $617 (no subsidies). That is for any age, no age ratings in NY are allowed.

 

[TripleLindy]

Our Blue Shield CA Bronze PPO is increasing from $1559 per month to $1889 per month for two people. We receive no subsidies. It's a lot of money for annual preventive check-ups. Only one plan on the exchange (Blue Shield PPO) provides access to the three best providers in-network (UCLA, Cedars-Sinai, USC Keck) so Blue Shield has no competition.

Add in the high deductible ($8750 per person, I think), and you’re spending more than $30k before you get a single penny of coverage. The U.S. healthcare system is an absolute train wreck. I guess there’s only a small percentage of people that don’t have either employer sponsored healthcare or Medicare, so it never rises to the point of being addressed. Maybe the cap on premiums at 8.5% of income (through ‘25) will help. Supposedly that was in place last year, too, but I didn’t know about it and I don’t think it showed up in the subsidy calculation, but I’ll pay closer attention this year.

Our open enrollment starts next week. The plan we are on for ‘22 is leaving our state after only 1 year, so I’ll probably be back to BCBS, even though many docs no longer participate.

 

[jim584672]

As long as you keep in the subsidy range it isn't bad. The SLCSP will never exceed 8.5% of MAGI (through 2025). Keep in the sweet CSRs (cost sharing reduction) Silver range and the OOP goes way down. I think 200% FPL is a good target to shoot for in Silver. In NY it is free 200% FPL or lower with the Essential Plans.

 

[scrabbler1]

Add in the high deductible ($8750 per person, I think), and you’re spending more than $30k before you get a single penny of coverage. The U.S. healthcare system is an absolute train wreck. I guess there’s only a small percentage of people that don’t have either employer sponsored healthcare or Medicare, so it never rises to the point of being addressed. Maybe the cap on premiums at 8.5% of income (through ‘25) will help. Supposedly that was in place last year, too, but I didn’t know about it and I don’t think it showed up in the subsidy calculation, but I’ll pay closer attention this year.

Our open enrollment starts next week. The plan we are on for ‘22 is leaving our state after only 1 year, so I’ll probably be back to BCBS, even though many docs no longer participate.

I and others here have posted about another benefit to having health insurance, one far less obvious than subsidies or exceeding one's annual deductible: Simply having insurance allows the insured to pay a lower amount than the provider's fee had there been no insurance.

On all of my EOBs, there are 2 reductions to the price charged by the provider. One is the discount, or write-down, of that price. The other is how much the IC pays. What's left in my Silver plan is my copay, often a very small percentage of the original price.

I just received an EOB for some routine bloodwork by a lab. The provider's price was over $1,400. The discount was nearly $1,300. My IC paid about $100, leaving me with a copay of $50 (just over 3% of the original amount), an amount which goes toward my high annual deductible, one I will likely never approach.

Another EOB for a doctor (a specialist) has similar figures although more of the overall reduction from the provider's amount charged goes toward what the IC paid instead of the discount. But I end up paying only a $50 copay, a good deal.

I consider these discounts a lot more than a "penny of coverage" which I receive with every doctor or lab visit.

 

[Dtail]

As long as you keep in the subsidy range it isn't bad. The SLCSP will never exceed 8.5% of MAGI (through 2025). Keep in the sweet CSRs (cost sharing reduction) Silver range and the OOP goes way down. I think 200% FPL is a good target to shoot for in Silver. In NY it is free 200% FPL or lower with the Essential Plans.

Yup, I actually keep it in the 150% range, as income is strategically put into DGF's accounts.