not even a year, yet another insurance cost increase

[lazygood4nothinbum]

just received notice from golden rule (united healthcare) that they are increasing my premium to $420 as of july 10th, "not based on your individual claim costs (i have made zero claims)...they are based on the combined costs of all company policyholders". united healthcare raised premiums to $350 on december 31 (& raised the deductible at that time). it was $300 when i signed up less than 2 years ago.

at this rate of inflation, it will cost me $31k/year for health insurance by the time medicare kicks in. i can not wait to sell these houses so i can leave this country.

2nd edit, a second letter: the good news is that i am now eligible for reconstruction of a breast on which mastectomy is performed & i get a symmetrical breast on the other breast to match.

 

[tangomonster]

Was this just a regular increase "to adjust for inflation and rising health care costs" and not a bump due to one of those ages where you go into the next category, like 55?

Yikes! And yeah, we also are dealing with that $31K looming before Medicare, only times two, for both of us! In our case, there is more than ten years before Medicare, so if we could just get some relief for even just a few years if someone can eventually reform the system, we would be happy, but somehow I don't think there is really any concrete reforms coming....

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

hey tango, ya, just a regular run of the mill nothing out of the ordinary here increase. what struck me and why i posted rant was the frequency of the increases. the first $50 increase effective jan 1. this $70 increase effective aug 1 of the same year. and that on the original 2-year-old $300 policy. wow.

i feel like i should be getting really really sick just to take advantage of these costs. in fact, these costs are making me really really sick. and when i projected out 14 years, well, these costs will be the death me.

my only hope is that these increases reflect not true costs, but a bubble. you know, like housing & oil.

 

[stargazer08]

I have UHC through Golden Rule and won't see a policy increase for 1 year which is quickly coming up. I guess I assumed all increases would be on a yearly basis. Maybe after our initial year is over the increases will be more frequent than yearly?! Bummer.

 

[Zoocat]

Lazy, I experienced a similar increase after one year with World Insurance. A 25% increase!
They lured me in with a lower than standard rate for the first year, then slammed me. Let me just say this: I am not their friend anymore.

And the second letter you received: What the heck? Are they idiots? (rhetorical question)

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

well, i just read a post by a new to forum member paying $2k/month. wow. doesn't that put my little problem into perspective.

stargazer, my first year was cobra with no increase. the increases on private policy seem to be coming every six months so far. i don't know if that is normal, or just normal for my group which i guess is single guys in south florida.

i don't know about them, old lady, but as i'm the one shelling out the bucks, apparently i'm the idiot.

 

[stargazer08]

Just got my friendly letter from UHC and our rates went up 20%. We jumped from 592/quarter to 711/quarter.

 

[REWahoo]

Just got my friendly letter from UHC and our rates went up 20%. We jumped from 592/quarter to 711/quarter.

Yikes. I'd really feel bad for you if we weren't paying a little more than that - per month.

 

[ziggy29]

Never fear. For those of you receiving COLAs, that 3% increase you'll get will cover all the higher costs, right? Right