ziggy29
Moderator Emeritus
Translation: Your PPO plan is gone and we are forcing you into an HMO?I got another mailing from BCBSIL about my plan being discontinued at EOY. Big red letters "Open and read right away for details and to learn about your options".
Well, the 'details' are mostly, you can't really do anything until Nov 1, but you will need to pick your PCP by Dec 1. Great.
There is a quadruple whammy hitting a lot of people:
(1) As we get a year older, rates increase;
(2) As health care costs continue to rise MUCH faster than inflation, premiums rise sharply without commensurate increase in incomes;
(3) Even with higher premiums, deductibles and (especially) OOP maximums are rising sharply;
(4) Many HMO and PPO networks are getting narrower with fewer and fewer providers in network.
All of these have been trends for at least 20 years, but this year they all seem to be hitting pretty hard, and that includes employer group plans.