ACA Rate Increases For 2023

[EastWest Gal]

This is strange. I put in our current birthdates and approximate income (varies depending on how much I sell from taxable and what the market does) and I get a premium credit of $1670, but if I put in numbers that suggest our age is one year younger, I get a premium tax credit of $1601. If I pick the plan we are currently on, we pay $131/month for our current age but $151/month if we were a year younger.

Why would the premium tax credit make us pay a higher amount for one year younger? We are both 63.

[TripleLindy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spock I can't even get to the healthcare.gov pages to see the plans/rates. The 2023 application process has gone full MORON. It asks for my November (this month) income. Not average monthly income. Not full 2022 income. But November income. Our income is a little lumpy with some CDs etc paying semi-annually. Anyway. I put in the Nov income as asked and the 2023 estimated income. The 2023 estimated is above the 138% FPL Medicaid threshold. The application process said I was not eligible for ACA based on low Nov 2022 income and was forwarding my application (which for 2023) to the state Medicaid office!!! And it showed our expected 2023 income on the form which was well above the minimums. The application process also takes Nov SS income, multiplies it by 12, and states that will be the 2023 SS income... I guess the government isn't aware of the 8.7% SS inflation increase in 2022. Sorry for the rant. I've got to go have my blood pressure tested.

I was also asked for November income, but the system just defaulted in 1/12 of the annual estimate I used for 2022. Like you, our income is lumpy because it’s just investment income. November actual was $0, but I left the default amount in. I was then asked for my 2023 income estimate, where I added the full year estimate.

I thought that I’d be able to log in and replicate the process, but apparently once the application has been submitted and processed, you can’t go back and change anything. When clicking on Application Details from the menu down the left hand side, my application shows as complete. There is a green button that says View Eligibility Results and a gray button that says Remove My Application. I assume the Remove button is gray because it’s no longer a viable option now that my application is complete. If the Remove button works for you, it might be a way to restart the process. If not, I was able to get some questions answered last year by calling the customers service line. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to connect with someone live. Good luck!

[EastWest Gal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stargazer08 Our HSA eligible BCBS plan for Illinois went up 2012%!!! No, I didn't miss a decimal place. I double checked the income we put for our previous application. Using the same income the premiums increased from just under $8 to $161. We can get a cheaper bronze plan but it won't be HSA eligible. To get our premiums down to near what we are paying this year for the HSA bronze plan, we'll have to decrease our taxable income by 15G. Interesting.

The actual premium didn't go up 2012%. Your tiny portion of the premium went up by 2012%.

[PaunchyPirate]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EastWest Gal This is strange. I put in our current birthdates and approximate income (varies depending on how much I sell from taxable and what the market does) and I get a premium credit of $1670, but if I put in numbers that suggest our age is one year younger, I get a premium tax credit of $1601. If I pick the plan we are currently on, we pay $131/month for our current age but $151/month if we were a year younger. Why would the premium tax credit make us pay a higher amount for one year younger? We are both 63.

Can you recheck your work? You say you get a higher subsidy at age 63. This makes sense, since your rate is probably higher. Keep in mind that the subsidy is based on the price of the Second Lowest Cost Silver Plan for your zip code for your age. It is not based on any particular plan you select.

Generally, rates go up with age. In order to see what you say you see, the base rate for age 62 would have to be higher than age 63. In fact, way higher, since the subsidy you indicate is less at age 62. It’s possible, but not typical.

[SecondCor521]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaunchyPirate Can you recheck your work? You say you get a higher subsidy at age 63. This makes sense, since your rate is probably higher. Keep in mind that the subsidy is based on the price of the Second Lowest Cost Silver Plan for your zip code for your age. It is not based on any particular plan you select. Generally, rates go up with age. In order to see what you say you see, the base rate for age 62 would have to be higher than age 63. In fact, way higher, since the subsidy you indicate is less at age 62. It’s possible, but not typical.

I suppose it's possible in theory that the SLCSP at age 62 is different than the one at age 63, changing the subsidy amount by more than the age differential. More likely it is an input error.

[Wupot2020]

I see that the application requires that my spouse and I to each provide our income separately. We are both retired and live off of investment income. How doe we enter this info? Do we split it 50/50 or does it even matter since we will note that we file our taxes jointly?

Thanks

[Aerides]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wupot2020 I see that the application requires that my spouse and I to each provide our income separately. We are both retired and live off of investment income. How doe we enter this info? Do we split it 50/50 or does it even matter since we will note that we file our taxes jointly? Thanks

That's what we do. I just kinda fudge it - I split our estimated income in two, then by 12 and put in expected monthly for me, and then repeat for DH.

It doesn't have to be super scientific.

[COcheesehead]

Same gold policy ‘23 for Colorado and staying at ‘22’s income, would have went down about $30/ month.
Same policy with ‘23’s income (thank you bonds), would go up almost $600/ month.

So we signed up for a Bronze HSA and save about $60 a month over ‘22’s costs and being able to take advantage of the HSA with an almost 60% increase in our ‘23 income.

[GoBears]

Covered California’s rates in my SF Bay Area county will go up an average of 6.1% for 2023. That translates into an extra $180 a month (not taking subsidies into account) for a Blue Shield of CA Silver plan. I decided to switch to Kaiser and save $300 a month for the same Silver Plan coverage. I can’t wait for Medicare in early 2024.

[Irishgirlyc58]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoBears Covered California’s rates in my SF Bay Area county will go up an average of 6.1% for 2023. That translates into an extra $180 a month (not taking subsidies into account) for a Blue Shield of CA Silver plan. I decided to switch to Kaiser and save $300 a month for the same Silver Plan coverage. I can’t wait for Medicare in early 2024.

Is that family coverage? A 6.1% increase at $180 means you started at $2950. [emoji15]
Please tell me that’s for several people!
I love Kaiser. Unfortunately I don’t live in an area that they serve.

[EastWest Gal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaunchyPirate Can you recheck your work? You say you get a higher subsidy at age 63. This makes sense, since your rate is probably higher. Keep in mind that the subsidy is based on the price of the Second Lowest Cost Silver Plan for your zip code for your age. It is not based on any particular plan you select. Generally, rates go up with age. In order to see what you say you see, the base rate for age 62 would have to be higher than age 63. In fact, way higher, since the subsidy you indicate is less at age 62. It’s possible, but not typical.

Good point. There are very few silver plans here. And they’re very expensive. I’m sticking with our bronze plan anyway.

[DayDreaming]

I got a letter from my current provider saying my monthly premium is going from $381 to $485 next year.
Time to shop around, but I don't have high hopes of finding anything better.

[USGrant1962]

Unsubsidized Maryland BC/BS HMO HSA bronze plan +13.2% - ouch!

[Murf2]

I went on MediCare mid-year. Our premium was 270 for both of us. The wife’s was 145 after I was off the policy. Just signed up for 2023 last night. 235 instead of 145 for the same BCBSKS.

The only other provider was Ambetter. Very cheap but new to our state & none of our providers seemed to be in network for them.

BCBS service has been great in the past, so what’s another grand a year. [emoji16]

Murf

[fh2000]

Covered California website 'Shop and Compare' tool always gives a much higher estimate for DW's plan, so I normally just call their hotline to renew DW's Bronze HSA PPO plan. Her premium for 2022 is $0.

I asked the agent online to do the Shop and Compare estimate for the same plan. He got $260 a month, but when the plan was renewed and finalized for 2023, the premium is back down to $0. He could not explain why such a big difference. But $0 is good.

[TripleLindy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aerides That's what we do. I just kinda fudge it - I split our estimated income in two, then by 12 and put in expected monthly for me, and then repeat for DH. It doesn't have to be super scientific.

Since I was the only one who had an income for most of our marriage, I just report income under my name and enter $0 for my wife. We also only have investment income, so unless there’s an unusual event, like a significant portfolio rebalance, our income is primarily dividends plus a little interest income. I don’t know why they want to show monthly income, as ours is mainly quarterly, but I just divide the annual amount by 12 and enter that for the monthly amount.

This year, I received a notice that my income didn’t match their records, but no specific info was given. We sold a 2nd home for a profit last year and also had a rebalancing event that resulted in significant income, therefore, last year’s income was higher than usual. Of course, we ended up repaying most of our subsidy. I can only assume that’s the cause of the mismatch. I’ve since submitted a letter explaining that, as well as statements showing 2022 YTD income in line with my 2023 estimate. Hopefully, that will settle the issue.

[old medic]

Just got mine... And not happy... Deductable/out of pocket increased $500 and premium up 13.5%.
Can't figure the subsidy yet...

[socca]

Completed my annual health insurance song-and-dance - not much change from last year. My options:

(1) [A]CA - no subsidy.

• Lowest-cost bronze plan is $8,772 / yr with $8,600 deductible. Best local hospital is out-of-network.

• Lowest-cost bronze plan with best local hospital in-network is $9,432 / yr with a $9,100 deductible. This plan has increased 13% from last year.

(2) National General "short-term" (364 days) health insurance. Doesn't cover pre-existing conditions.

• in the past I've signed up for the $25k deductible, 100%/0% co-insurance, $1M max coverage plan. This year it's $2,268 / yr, a 31% increase from last year.

• website is even crappier than usual - can't tell whether the best local hospital is in-network

(3) United Health "short-term" (364 days) health insurance. Doesn't cover pre-existing conditions.

• in the past I've signed up for the $15k deductible, 100%/0% co-insurance, $2M max coverage. This year it's $3,696 / yr, a 10% increase from last year.

• the best local hospital is in-network

• better website than National General - can apply entirely online

== this year's choice ==

• same as last year: United Health "short-term" insurance.

• $9.4k for [A]CA vs. $3.7k for UH = $5.7k savings. This is a nice-sized chunk of change.

== additional notes ==

• medical underwriting continues to be amusing. I've been purchasing "private" insurance since 2007 except for a 1.5-year gap when I used the [A]CA, so I've seen how the process has evolved. The height and weight question has always featured prominently in medical underwriting. These health insurance companies are sitting on a vast trove of raw data that indicates that weight matters. I then look around at the overweight/obese Americans swarming everywhere and wonder if they're getting the message.

[O2Bfree]

Our premiums will increase next year because of an increase in our income, but now I'm having an issue that I don't understand. The KFF calculator shows $753/month for our premiums, but my state's health plan finder shows $1,025.93/month. The two have agreed the past two years I've used them, and I've checked all my inputs a couple times.

The plan I hope to renew is a baseline Silver plan, and so should have an 8.5% cap. But $1,025.93 is 11.6%. I've called both Molina and health plan finder support lines and neither could give me any answers. The rep for the state agency had never even heard of the KFF calculator or the 8.5% cap! And the rep for Molina knew nothing about their pricing and said to call the state agency! I thought maybe they could tell me if the plan was no longer a baseline plan, but no, they knew less than I do.

So I've messaged Molina about the issue through their website support portal, and also posted a bad review on Google. Molina responded to the review right away—maybe it was a bot response—and gave an email address to use to contact them. They've always responded through their support portal within a couple days, but I'll email them if I don't get a response by then.

[Winemaker]

My non ACA plan premium went from $883.56 to $988.86/month.


Can't wait til next year to get on Medicare. Even with IRMAA penalties, I'll save over $350/month. It's been eight years of paying these kind of premiums.