ACA (BCBS) rate hikes?

[Time2]

There is no longer a penalty for not having health insurance. I thought the whole premise for the ACA was that everyone would enroll, therefore young healthy individuals paying premiums would help keep the cost of premiums down for everyone else.

The highest number of people on the ACA is 23 million. 331 million population divided by 23 million is 7%. It would help if a high percentage of those were young, but it is a surprisingly low percentage of people signed up for the ACA.

 

[camfused]

Hey, just to be sure, is it allowed to have COBRA until about May (SCOTUS decision on ACA), then switch to ACA (if it survives w/subsidies) for the rest of the year?

 

[PaunchyPirate]

Hey, just to be sure, is it allowed to have COBRA until about May (SCOTUS decision on ACA), then switch to ACA (if it survives w/subsidies) for the rest of the year?

I don't believe you can leave your COBRA at any time you choose and go to ACA. If your COBRA happens to run out in May, then that is a qualifying event and you can then go on an ACA plan using the qualifying event as a reason. But you can't do it any time you want.

 

[Aerides]

I don't believe you can leave your COBRA at any time you choose and go to ACA. If your COBRA happens to run out in May, then that is a qualifying event and you can then go on an ACA plan using the qualifying event as a reason. But you can't do it any time you want.

correct. You can't dump cobra mid-year just because. You can switch either at a year end during open enrollment, or when it ends.

 

[audreyh1]

Mine is up only 3%. Pretty amazing all things considered.

I did get a substantial rebate for last year. Covered one month’s payment plus a little extra.

 

[BeachOrCity]

Got Catastrophic exemption serial number 0001 in DC today. Approved for BCBS Cat plan. Premiums for 2 ages 54 and 55 $~575/mo COMBINED!

Woo Hoo!

 

[Freedom56]

Our bronze EPO is increasing from $1096 per month to $1305 per month with OSCAR Health. A similar bronze plan with BCBS California that covers UCLA is now $1548 per month. Fortunately LA Care HMO covers UCLA this year and our doctors are in the provider directory and the cost would be $1022 per month. We only use preventive care so if LA Care was not available I would seriously consider self insuring.

 

[Dtail]

Signed up for the BCBS Silver 1443 plan again. Premiums rose from 119 to 172 monthly with a MAGI of 20k. The premiums for this plan appear to have rising more in the western part of the state.
Still a very good rate overall.

 

[simple girl]

We also signed up for the same ACA plan: the 1705 Blue Options HSA plan for $263/month with a MAGI of $25K. This is an increase from $181/mo in 2020.

We need the Blue Options network in order to be able to see specific doctors we like. This was our first year on the ACA, and this plan was great.

I had a bit of heart skip when our agent wrote us and said our name made it on a list that indicated we would need to prove income this upcoming year.

Fortunately, I just explained to the agent that our income dropped in 2020 due to DH not working since 12/31/2019 (his retirement date). That was all he needed apparently to prove our income. I'm so glad I have an agent to take care this stuff for us. He is worth is weight in gold!

 

[sengsational]

BCBSNC said ours went up $263 per year, or a 20% increase. In 12 days I'll see what the SLCSP is and, to mis-quote the lone ranger I'm hoping for "high-high silver!"

The silver (slcsp) was 1912.82, vs 1790.22, so a 6.8% increase. Not enough to cover the increase in the bronze plan I had. But BCBS NC offered what looked like an identical policy, but you have to get routine care in one place (not good for kids at the state college, but good enough for us), and that policy increased in price by 10.2%.

 

[Dtail]

We also signed up for the same ACA plan: the 1705 Blue Options HSA plan for $263/month with a MAGI of $25K. This is an increase from $181/mo in 2020.

We need the Blue Options network in order to be able to see specific doctors we like. This was our first year on the ACA, and this plan was great.

I had a bit of heart skip when our agent wrote us and said our name made it on a list that indicated we would need to prove income this upcoming year.

Fortunately, I just explained to the agent that our income dropped in 2020 due to DH not working since 12/31/2019 (his retirement date). That was all he needed apparently to prove our income. I'm so glad I have an agent to take care this stuff for us. He is worth is weight in gold!

Yeah unfortunately I will need to provide proof this year, which I didn't have to do in 2018 or 2019.
I believe and the Healthcare rep confirmed without numerical proof that if one changes their MAGI by X amount year to year, it automatically asks for income proof.

 

[socca]

My Florida Blue premium on a Bronze HSA policy is going from $627 to $797. No subsidy.

Insane.

I just completed my annual (un)affordability analysis for the [A]CA for my particular situation (late 50s single male, non-smoker, no subsidies). The premium for the 2021 lowest-cost EPO Bronze plan from BCBS of FL has risen by 12.1% to $719 / mo ($8,628 / yr). The deductible has risen by $400 to $8,550. The best local hospital continues to be out-of-network for all of the providers I checked on healthcare.gov. The range of 2021 MAGI for which the [A]CA delivers unaffordable health insurance premiums to folks like me according to its own internal definition of affordability is now an eye-popping $51,040 to $107,242. That's right, folks! An older single male can now have a 6-figure MAGI and still have only unaffordable plans available from the [A]CA .

I will once again be purchasing a "short-term" health insurance policy (360 days) for 2021. For both of the major players in this arena (National General and United Health), the best local hospital is in-network. This is amazing! So much for the notion that "short-term" insurance is "junk" insurance. The correct answer is that you've got to dig down into the details and figure out what's important to you. For the plan I'm purchasing, the monthly premium will be $230 / mo.

Good luck!

 

[BeachOrCity]

I just completed my annual (un)affordability analysis for the [A]CA for my particular situation (late 50s single male, non-smoker, no subsidies). The premium for the 2021 lowest-cost EPO Bronze plan from BCBS of FL has risen by 12.1% to $719 / mo ($8,628 / yr). The deductible has risen by $400 to $8,550. The best local hospital continues to be out-of-network for all of the providers I checked on healthcare.gov. The range of 2021 MAGI for which the [A]CA delivers unaffordable health insurance premiums to folks like me according to its own internal definition of affordability is now an eye-popping $51,040 to $107,242. That's right, folks! An older single male can now have a 6-figure MAGI and still have only unaffordable plans available from the [A]CA .

I will once again be purchasing a "short-term" health insurance policy (360 days) for 2021. For both of the major players in this arena (National General and United Health), the best local hospital is in-network. This is amazing! So much for the notion that "short-term" insurance is "junk" insurance. The correct answer is that you've got to dig down into the details and figure out what's important to you. For the plan I'm purchasing, the monthly premium will be $230 / mo.

Good luck!

Did you consider a catastrophic plan? If the cheapest Bronze plan is >9% of your EXPECTED (not your actual) income for 2021, you are eligible to buy one.
For me, the premiums are 1/2 the bronze premiums with roughly the same coverage.

 

[socca]

Did you consider a catastrophic plan?

Healthcare.gov has never offered a catastrophic plan as an option, even though I clearly indicate that I don't qualify for subsidies. Next year I can check whether this is even an option for me (maybe via a broker selling off-exchange but [A]CA-compliant policies). Being able to receive care at the best area hospital is important to me, so I'm grateful that FL allows me to purchase a non-[A]CA compliant "short-term" policy (some other states are not so friendly).

FWIW, the max annual payout for my new policy (like my old policy) is $1M. A distant relative recently had a horrible accident (partly bad judgement, partly bad luck) that rendered him a quadriplegic with little prospect for recovery. His first-year medical expenses will probably be >$1M and his annual expenses will probably be >$200k based on a google search I did. Of course, the poor guy's life is basically ruined, so it's a bit crass to focus only on the financial aspect. The bottom line is that I'm partially self-insuring by accepting a policy with a $1M max payout, which I personally believe is a risk that I should be allowed to take in exchange for a lower monthly premium. Other folks disagree - fine. Let the battle over America's dysfunctional healthcare system continue!

 

[sengsational]

You are not presented with catastrophic plans on the site. Go in anonymously and put in your info, but age 29 and at least you'd see if there were any plans. You could go to a broker to work the maze.

 

[5Miler]

Helped DGF with her renewal of ACA yesterday. She is on a Silver plan with Kaiser in Georgia and it made sense to just renew her plan. We maintain her MAGI at $18K to be eligible for Cost Sharing and supplement income from her after tax or Roth as needed. Unbelievably, her premiums went down from $270 to $57 per month for the same plan. She is now 61. I think her subsidy went up by almost $200 this year so there must have been quite a shift in plan costs locally.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

In my county in Pennsylvania, Catastrophic Plans show up on our ACA exchange but are limited to those under 30 years of age or with certain "hardships". Not sure what the hardships are, but it's clear these are intended only for healthy, young individuals for the most part.

 

[jim584672]

In my county in Pennsylvania, Catastrophic Plans show up on our ACA exchange but are limited to those under 30 years of age or with certain "hardships". Not sure what the hardships are, but it's clear these are intended only for healthy, young individuals for the most part.

If your plan is over a certain percentage of income you can buy a catastrophic plan with an affordability exemption at any age.

 

[saydiver]

The premium for the 2021 lowest-cost EPO Bronze plan from BCBS of FL has risen by 12.1% to $719 / mo ($8,628 / yr). The deductible has risen by $400 to $8,550. The best local hospital continues to be out-of-network for all of the providers I checked on healthcare.gov.

The lowest tier/cost FLBlue EPO Bronze plan is a BlueSelect plan. Their EPO network is considerably smaller than the more expensive FLBLue BlueOptions plans, which have twice as many hospitals and drs in their network than BlueSelect plans.

 

[street]

Are's went up 17% for BCBS of Montana.