Health Care notice for 2017

[racy]

I just got my annual enrollment worksheet for my Health & Welfare Plan provided by Aetna today. The Aetna Select plan for my wife & I increased from $804 this year to $1014 for 2017. I figured it would go up, but I didn't think 25%! What's the answer?

 

[48Fire]

Ours was $637 when I retired 3 years ago. Now it is $1,212, nearly doubled.

 

[wolf]

Blue Shield. Purchase Insurance for both young daughters. Increase, 22%.
in premiums for 2017.


Not "ACA", but I think ÄCA" rules, affect all health insurance plans.

 

[RunningBum]

We already got a thread for this: http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/preview-2017-aca-plans-now-active-83899.html

 

[zedd]

We already got a thread for this: http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/preview-2017-aca-plans-now-active-83899.html

Hmm, that link doesn't work

 

[HadEnuff]

Hmm, that link doesn't work

There were several warnings on that thread about keeping the politics out of it.

I think it got canned.

too bad because there was a lot of good info on it. Maybe we can do better with this one.

 

[HadEnuff]

I just got my annual enrollment worksheet for my Health & Welfare Plan provided by Aetna today. The Aetna Select plan for my wife & I increased from $804 this year to $1014 for 2017. I figured it would go up, but I didn't think 25%! What's the answer?

An ACA plan with a subsidy? 2017 Will be the first year with DW and I both retired, and while I haven't seen exactly how much our existing plan will go up,
I am looking at ACA plans (in NY State), and managing my MAGI by living off of already taxed money a bit more than I had originally planned.

I have a plan in mind that I think is pretty close to what I had, but I haven't compared everything.

 

[eta2020]

There were several warnings on that thread about keeping the politics out of it.

I think it got canned.

too bad because there was a lot of good info on it. Maybe we can do better with this one.

I got it canned for posting link of HALE: Health-adjusted life expectancy and longevity by World Health Organization .

... and making some comments. My apologies.

 

[GTFan]

Really don't understand why threads are deleted instead of simply locked. There was a lot of good info in that thread.

 

[REWahoo]

Really don't understand why threads are deleted instead of simply locked. There was a lot of good info in that thread.

My experience is that threads are rarely deleted. They may dissappear for a couple of hours while the mods do the forum version of "clean up on aisle three" but the thread will reappear — usually closed.

 

[MichaelB]

Threads are rarely deleted here. The one in reference has been closed. It was temporarily offline but the posts are all there and can be read by everyone.

Please, let's keep this thread on topic - the same topic as the other thread, which is individual health insurance pricing for 2017.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Mine went down significantly. $341pm after subs to $64pm. Myself and DW. FloridaBlue Florida. Oh, we use an agent and got a better deal than doing it ourselves.

 

[EastWest Gal]

For the second year in a row we have to change insurers. Two years ago our premium was $836 for three of us (our DS was in college. Last year it was $927. We were on a bronze plan. There 50+ plans to choose from. This year with just two of us the premium is $1900. That's an increase of 110%. No bronze plans are even offered. Just 6 plans to choose from.

I'm glad I stopped working this year. Dividends and cap gains push us close to the $64K cliff. By selling some positions this year to increase our cash stash we will qualify for a subsidy. The minimum subsidy is $1600/month.

BTW the thread is still there. Thanks to the poster there who suggested ways to reduce next year's MAGI.

 

[Toocold]

Thanks to the poster there who suggested ways to reduce next year's MAGI.

I've been playing with MAGI and the amount of subsidies plus marginal tax rates for my state. It seems like there is a higher incentive not to work.

 

[Ally]

[emoji15] I am so thankful my husband was a state employee and for the two of us next year, we will pay only $158 monthly for our Medicare advantage plan. Our plan covers 100% of nearly everything, including copays, except for drug copays. I thank my husband frequently for enduring his job so we could have this plan!

 

[Dog]

DH is retired this year and we are on his plan (Blue Cross/Blue Shield). I'm bracing myself for the 2017 increase.

 

[Bamaman]

I pay for my daughter's BCBS Individual Blue (Non-ACA) healthcare including dental. I was thrilled when the monthly premium went from $290 to $298.
And they lose money on her every month.

 

[Just_Steve]

I thank goodness for 3 things everyday.
1) That I woke on the right side of the dirt.
2) For my family.
3) Last but not least that I don't have to participate in this horror show called ACA.
Trust me I feel for all of you.

 

[broadway]

3) Last but not least that I don't have to participate in this horror show called ACA.
Trust me I feel for all of you.

No need to "feel" for me.

I have had insurance using ACA website since 2014, so it has been three years.
For the first two years, I ended up repaying the subsidy, because I ended up finding contract jobs that caused my MAGI to go over 4x poverty level.
This year, I made much less, so I will see whether I have to repay or not.

It has worked out fine so far. [knock on wood]

 

[EastWest Gal]

I went and looked at non-ACA plans through a few websites. The cheapest one was $1573 for the two of us. I hope I don't need to "unretire" for the health insurance. The cheapest ACA plan is over $1900 for the two of us. That is a >100% increase in our premiums. And to think if our MAGI is over $64079 we will have to pay every last penny of it. I think we will manage to keep our MAGI below that magic number next year. We'll see.

 

[spncity]

Just got the letter.

For two people, without subsidy:

2016 price for BluePreferred PPO HSA Bronze ($4500 deductible per person, $13,100 OOP Max for household) is $993.20 per month.

2017 price for the plan closest to the above: BluePreferred PPO HSA Bronze ($6,550 deductible per person, $13,100 OOP Max for household) will be $1,704.88 per month.

The subsidy has been adjusted, but not nearly in proportion to the increase.

I had a PPO because I thought we'd be traveling full-time.

That has changed, but still hoping to travel now and then.

I guess I need to look at Kaiser Permanente. I understand KP covers emergency and urgent care when traveling. We're healthy, so that's likely more than enough.

But what happens if you are in an accident or have a health crisis and need hospitalization after the initial emergency room visit?

 

[frank]

I just got the letter and my premium increased from 776. to 821. per month for one person. I thought that was cheap for the increase compared to what I have been hearing. everyone says obamacare is cheap because the subsidy takes care of the increases, but who is paying the subsidy? insurance companies as far as I can tell must be cleaning up on the taxpayer dime whether or not you have obamacare.

 

[FIREmenow]

...............but who is paying the subsidy? insurance companies as far as I can tell must be cleaning up on the taxpayer dime whether or not you have obamacare.

BINGO. We're all paying.

 

[MBSC]

I understand KP covers emergency and urgent care when traveling. We're healthy, so that's likely more than enough.

But what happens if you are in an accident or have a health crisis and need hospitalization after the initial emergency room visit?

All ACA compliant plans must cover emergencies whether the plan is purchased on-exchange or off-exchange. The issue is a layman's definition of emergency may differ from the plan definition. The member can appeal if the plan initially denies the claim as non-emergency.

In most states, you can be balanced billed the difference between the plan's payment for out-of-network emergencies and the billed charges.

Emergencies include inpatient hospitalization (heart attack, stroke, auto accident, etc.) The emergency is over when the attending physician either discharges the patient, pronounces the patient is deceased, or releases the stabilized patient to be transferred. For transfers, the hospital staff coordinates with the plan to ensure the patient is transferred to an in-network rehab facility or hospital.

 

[GTFan]

3) Last but not least that I don't have to participate in this horror show called ACA.

Horror show, really? The horror show was the so-called free market that we had before, where insurers could deny you for almost anything.