2021 Medical Insurance Costs - Mine Went Down!

[ElizabethT]

This is the time of year I dread- the point at which we receive our Medical Insurance renewal packets. Other than two pre-ACA years in FIRE, our renewals have gone up by an average of $100 each per month, or roughly a combined increase of $2400 per year.

To clarify- we are not on a subsidized plan and never have been as we do not qualify based on our AGI. Our ACA-compliant bronze plan with Kaiser has always been paid fully out of pocket since we FIRE'd eight years ago.

But not this year! This year DH finally turned 65 and went onto Medicare, and my renewal came in $16 less per month, or $694 down from $710. So I happily moved the $1200 I now won't be spending on Medical Insurance in 2021 over to our overflow/blow money bucket.

Clueless as to why my premiums dropped for 2021, but I'll take it. How are others of you faring for 2021? Inquiring minds and all that . . .

 

[erkevin]

Haven't received renewal from BCBS yet. Like you, retired and pay our own premiums with no subsidy. $1325 for both (bronze).

 

[Freedom56]

The 2021 plan pricing are still not available yet. We have been with OSCAR for the past 3 years and receive no subsidies and pay $1,096.57 for both of us (Bronze Plan). We paid $968 per month the previous year. Our provider only accepts OSCAR Circle EPO and BCBS PPO from the individual market. So we only have two options. We are a long way from Medicare eligibility. I can't see rates falling until people start leading more healthy lives. Over seventy percent of the population is now either overweight or obese and it's getting worse. I can't see rates falling until insurance companies base their rates on your overall health condition which is now illegal.

 

[tb001]

We're still on cobra, but ours went up by almost 15% this year.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

I have not yet received any pricing details, but I have been notified by my provider (UPMC Health Plan) that my current 2020 ACA plan will not be offered and that I will need to switch plans. Details to be provided in the future.

Pennsylvania's Insurance Department has posted the rate requests from the companies on its website. Even though the rates haven't been finalized, they are usually granted as requested unless they are exorbitant. They are not exorbitant this year... some up a couple % points, and some even down a couple % points.

The good news is that the plan I suspect will end up being closest to my current plan looks to rise from $879/mo to $900/mo -- mostly attributed to being a year older. I currently receive a premium subsidy and hope to be able to maintain it in 2021, so I pay about half that amount.

The bad news is that the plan is currently a PPO plan and appears to be about to change to an HMO plan. I don't yet have any details on what the specifics of the network will be to see I will like that or not.

In my county, we only have 2 providers that provide plans on the ACA exchange. UPMC and Highmark BCBS. Each owns their own chain of hospitals here in Western PA and they have been feuding about accepting each others' insurance at their own hospitals. Years of lawsuits were somewhat settled in the last year but it's still a chess game to try and figure out which insurance plan is acceptable at the various hospitals.

UPMC is moving all their plans in my county to the HMO model. My guess is that the HMO network will only include the UPMC hospitals. The BCBS ACA plans are all EPOs and do not include the nearby UPMC hospitals (generally considered the better hospitals) to be in-network. BCBS ACA only supports their own hospitals in their network.

So you pretty much have to decide which hospital system you prefer and then buy the corresponding vendor's insurance.

The catch in my county, in particular, is that our 2 hospitals (co-owned) are both independent hospitals that are NOT owned by either UPMC or BCBS. I'll be very curious to see if they are in my HMO network. Many (most?) of the doctors in my county are employees of that independent hospital. So I have no idea if my doctor will be in network or not. He didn't have any information to share with me yet when I spoke with him in early September.

So, I guess I'm happy that my monthly premium will still be in the same ballpark as I've been paying for 2 years. But there is a lot of uncertainty about coverage and networks and such that I'll have to sort through as the details become public. Fingers crossed it's not a bigger mess than it already is.

 

[homestead]

Our Regence BCBS PPO Medicare Advantage stayed the same this year $47/mo.
Includes vision,dental,hearing aids,drug & gym membership benefits.

 

[Donno]

I have a bronze ACA plan through BCBS in Tennessee and just got an email from them saying I was getting a refund because they have only paid out 69% of the required 80% of the premiums collected. I don't know how much I'm getting back but they haven't changed the monthly premium for the rest of the year.

I'm not sure what the premiums are going to be next year yet, but they asked the state for about an 11% increase next year which I don't understand unless they are expecting a surge in expenses for people that put off healthcare this year due to covid.

 

[GTFan]

Here in GA on Ambetter we don't get new prices until the week before Nov. 1, so just have to wait. I'm anticipating it to be about the same premium with slightly increased deductibles for Silver CSR plans, same as last year.

 

[W2R]

AFAIK, we have no firm information on the 2021 FEHB (federal employee/retiree health insurance) premiums yet.

Rumor has it that federal employees and retirees may see some staggering increases. But then, that's just rumor, and we all know how unreliable THAT can be. I will wait before freaking out about it. It shouldn't be too long before we find out exactly what we will be paying.

 

[aaronc879]

I'm not surprised about the decrease in premium. I got a check a few days ago from my HI company from last year. The letter that came with it said they overcharged me and the check was a refund. They are only allowed to profit a certain % so everyone got a refund.

 

[Sarah S]

I never find out until enrollment starts but this site allows you to look up requested aca rate increases by state and plan. https://ratereview.healthcare.gov/#search?U2FsdGVkX19aN5Inqer6jUByOWWrI7pFR7lJHqT1CGg=

If approved by the state mine will increase 9.03%- about 80 dollars a month

 

[aaronc879]

I never find out until enrollment starts but this site allows you to look up requested aca rate increases by state and plan. https://ratereview.healthcare.gov/#search?U2FsdGVkX19aN5Inqer6jUByOWWrI7pFR7lJHqT1CGg=

If approved by the state mine will be 9.03%- about 80 dollars a month

Wow. That site shows almost all plans in my state are expected to have decreased premiums next year.

 

[Aerides]

I never find out until enrollment starts but this site allows you to look up requested aca rate increases by state and plan. https://ratereview.healthcare.gov/#search?U2FsdGVkX19aN5Inqer6jUByOWWrI7pFR7lJHqT1CGg=

If approved by the state mine will increase 9.03%- about 80 dollars a month

Thanks that's helpful. Mine shows a range of -2 to +4%, so we'll wait and see but all in the inflation margin of error so I won't complain if anything in that range holds steady.

 

[Texas Proud]

Have not received our proposed rates for next year but we got a refund due to them not paying out enough for 2019...

 

[Lagniappe]

My 2021 rate from Florida Blue became available on October 1. Only one provider is available. 26% increase. No explanation provided.

I am not pleased.

 

[GTFan]

I'm not surprised about the decrease in premium. I got a check a few days ago from my HI company from last year. The letter that came with it said they overcharged me and the check was a refund. They are only allowed to profit a certain % so everyone got a refund.

We got a letter from Ambetter saying they are going to credit us $1000 for past overcharges, got a little over $800 last year.

So our Silver CSR plan has been free for this year and will be again next year (currently $68/mo. after subsidies). Going to suck getting on Medicare down the road at this rate, assuming ACA still exists then.