Another "bend over" Open enrollment

[ziggy29]

Looks like we get the trifecta this year in our health insurance open enrollment:

1 -- Our premiums are rising 19%
2 -- Our deductible is rising by $500
3 -- Our out of pocket maximum is rising by $2000 (!!!)

And to add insult to injury, Megacorp is changing HSA custodians, so unless we want to start getting socked with the monthly fees we have to jump through the hoops to transfer the funds to the new custodian within the first two months of 2012. And oh, yes -- no raises in the last four years.

And no, the PPO isn't an option over the HSA unless we want to pay an extra $3500 a year for it.

Have I mentioned how much our health care system sucks?

 

[FUEGO]

At least they threw in a free colonoscopy.

Seriously, that sucks! My megagovt job just did this. Apparently we young healthy employees are in the same risk pool as the retirees, so we get to help carry the load.

Luckily DW works for a megacorp that at least somewhat values its employees. So we get insurance through her. Coverage got slightly better (same $0 deductible, same low or zero copays as last year, but they added some stuff into the policy that I recall we might possibly use). Premiums went up $8 a month for family coverage to $108/month.

 

[ziggy29]

At least they threw in a free colonoscopy.

Only if you've already hit the out of pocket maximum which goes from $4000 to $6000 next year...

 

[eytonxav]

I guess this is the cost of taking care of the uninsured. Mine went up last year for this years coverage and I haven't yet seen what the hit will be for 2012.

 

[Tom52]

My company is "self insured" for health care costs but it is managed thru Cigna. It has been stated that the cost to the company has actually been declining the last several years but they have already advised our monthly premiums will be raised next year anyway to further reduce their costs.

They also told us that if the health care legislation goes thru they are strongly considering dropping health care coverage altogether and paying the $3,000 yearly penalty per employee because they will actually save money. This is no rumor mind you, this was stated by the corporate HR manager in a company wide meeting.

I wonder what they are thinking. How would they ever expect to compete for employees if the job market turns around? Current employees would bail for better benefits and prospective employees would pass them by. What a way to run a business.

 

[Mulligan]

It appears to me, at least by reading various forums and people I talk to, that people currently working that are attached to company sponsored health insurance are getting walloped worse than those in the individual market this year. I wonder how much is directly the insurance premium increase, or the cost shifting to workers. I was surprised to learn from several friends their base company plan, is hardly any better than my own 5k individual deductible plan.

 

[DangerMouse]

We don't have all the details of MegaCorps 2012 insurance but we do know that anyone who uses tobacco who is covered has to pay an additional $500 towards coverage.

 

[travelover]

..............
I wonder what they are thinking. How would they ever expect to compete for employees if the job market turns around? Current employees would bail for better benefits and prospective employees would pass them by. What a way to run a business.

Yea, I'm kinda surprised people are not protesting in major cities over this corporate attitude.

 

[FUEGO]

They also told us that if the health care legislation goes thru they are strongly considering dropping health care coverage altogether and paying the $3,000 yearly penalty per employee because they will actually save money. This is no rumor mind you, this was stated by the corporate HR manager in a company wide meeting.

My megagov employer should do the same. Right now they are subsidizing employees to the tune of $6000 per employee, and that gets us single coverage under a crappy policy.

 

[W2R]

In 2012 I'll be paying twice as much as in 2011 for my particular prescriptions, or more if they go up in price. I'm not happy. I haven't even looked to see where else my plan is slashing their end of the deal. Price is $1.76/month less this year than last, but they are compensating by not paying out as much.

 

[sn2792]

Gosh after reading these responses, I feel really lucky with our retiree benefits. Mine cost me nothing a month with free preventive care and a $1200.00 annual deductible.

My DH's went down for 2012 from $30.00 a month to $9.00 a month with no deductible but $30.00 co-pay for office visits.

I ended up adding myself to his insuarance so I'll have dual coverage. If I need sick care, I can use his for what falls under my deductible.

 

[travelover]

Gosh after reading these responses, I feel really lucky with our retiree benefits. Mine cost me nothing a month with free preventive care and a $1200.00 annual deductible.

I had the same thing deal this year, but for 2012 I have to pay $60 a month to maintain the same coverage. Enjoy it while ya got it............

My DH's went down for 2012 from $30.00 a month to $9.00 a month with no deductible but $30.00 co-pay for office visits.

I ended up adding myself to his insurance so I'll have dual coverage. If I need sick care, I can use his for what falls under my deductible.

You may end up regretting having dual coverage. In my experience, you end up being the mediator while each company tries to pawn off the charges to the other.

 

[deserat]

I had the same thing deal this year, but for 2012 I have to pay $60 a month to maintain the same coverage. Enjoy it while ya got it............

You may end up regretting having dual coverage. In my experience, you end up being the mediator while each company tries to pawn off the charges to the other.

So true - every time I go to the doc, they ask me if I have any other coverage and claim that I must use any other coverage first.....and then make me sign a statement to that fact.

 

[chinaco]

At least they threw in a free colonoscopy.

Seriously, that sucks! My megagovt job just did this. Apparently we young healthy employees are in the same risk pool as the retirees, so we get to help carry the load.

Luckily DW works for a megacorp that at least somewhat values its employees. So we get insurance through her. Coverage got slightly better (same $0 deductible, same low or zero copays as last year, but they added some stuff into the policy that I recall we might possibly use). Premiums went up $8 a month for family coverage to $108/month.

That may be true. But there is another bigger subsidy... is the non working dependent. both for employer provided healthcare, Medicare, and retirement plans.

The person that works pays for others. Families (other dependents) and non-working spouses (or uninsured spouses for employer based healthcare) are the beneficiary of the largest subsidy.

This is often overlooked. As the share of the burden gets shifted more and more to the employee... all of this will surface. So far some of the number I have seen put a relatively larger burden on a single insured person than a person who is covering dependents.

Birthing that baby and providing care till 26 is expensive.

Medicare and retirement plans... same thing for uncovered or non-working spouses.

Some of these things are policy related issues. But as people have to pay more of the burden, it will begin to be discussed.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Just got my 2012 information:

Premium, no change at about $1100 per month; PPO, $2500 HSA deductible for family (just DW and me)

Without the HSA the premium rises by about $2500 per year.

Expensive but I'm not complaining - just glad I have access to it.

 

[ziggy29]

You may end up regretting having dual coverage. In my experience, you end up being the mediator while each company tries to pawn off the charges to the other.

Yep -- and these days, you also tend to pay a considerable premium for the insurance coverage, so a couple that has access to "dual health insurance" plans can often "opt out" of the inferior plan and save some money in the process -- as well as avoiding these kinds of hassles. And since most places will let you add health insurance midyear (i.e. not only during open enrollment) if your spouse loses their family coverage, it's not terribly risky.

 

[FUEGO]

That may be true. But there is another bigger subsidy... is the non working dependent. both for employer provided healthcare, Medicare, and retirement plans.

The person that works pays for others. Families (other dependents) and non-working spouses (or uninsured spouses for employer based healthcare) are the beneficiary of the largest subsidy.

This is often overlooked. As the share of the burden gets shifted more and more to the employee... all of this will surface. So far some of the number I have seen put a relatively larger burden on a single insured person than a person who is covering dependents.

Birthing that baby and providing care till 26 is expensive.

Medicare and retirement plans... same thing for uncovered or non-working spouses.

Some of these things are policy related issues. But as people have to pay more of the burden, it will begin to be discussed.

Absolutely. At DW's company, they are undoubtedly eating that non-working spouse and kid expense. Employee only coverage is approximately free, and adding me+kids to her policy is what costs $1300/yr. But when we asked about COBRA costs, it was around $9000 to extra to insure me+kids on her policy. So they are eating $7700 in costs when an employee adds the +family coverage to their policy.

My former and current employer both place the burden of the +family coverage cost solely on the employee, and as a result the premiums are rather high to add that coverage.

 

[JmfromTx]

Have I mentioned how much our health care system sucks?

I got my open enrollment Friday. The cost is the same but the deductible and out of pocket doubled. They blame rising costs, uncertainty about the new health care law ( they say there is evidence the new laws have already led to increased medical inflation) and the loss of the ERRP funding. The new health care laws are going to have a lot of unintended consequences IMO.

 

[toofrugalformycat]

I got my open enrollment Friday. The cost is the same but the deductible and out of pocket doubled. They blame rising costs, uncertainty about the new health care law ( they say there is evidence the new laws have already led to increased medical inflation) and the loss of the ERRP funding. The new health care laws are going to have a lot of unintended consequences IMO.

Sorry your costs will rise. I'm wondering if they cite where the "evidence" is? Are private health insurance companies held to any standard of truthfulness when raising premiums, or limit on profit-taking? I really don't know.

 

[Chuckanut]

Interesting, my premium went down about 1.5% this year for the same policy.

This begs the question of why our health coverage should be based on our employer. That makes no sense to me in this day and age. Much better to have a national system and be up front about the tax necessary to support it.