I posted part of this as a reply in another thread, but please allow me to make a new thread with a request for suggestions for our situation. If you have already read the first part below then skip on down to the new part with more info. Thank you.
My wife and I bought a high deductible PPO plan ($6000/each, $12,700/family) on healthcare.gov in December 2013. We had been buying private health insurance since 1999. Recently we got a letter saying that assuming nothing had changed (same plan, same income) then we were going to have our premium increased by 68% on 1/1. Our income has gone up a bit since 12/2013 though (a little more in dividends and interest) so it is going to be more than a 68% increase. When I plugged in my expected 2015 income (just 7% more than what I estimated our 2014 income would be) healthcare.gov says our premium is going up 98%.
Right after we got that letter my sister told me that my nephew who also bought a plan on healthcare.gov received a similar letter. His premium is going up 105%! His income is slightly up since 2013 too though so he is looking at a more than 105% increase.
My wife and I are trying to figure out what to do now. We already have the cheapest PPO plan available. We spend lots of time out of state, after all we are FIRE, so it seems like an HMO, which is about the same price in 2015 as the PPO was in 2014, would be pretty much pointless.
New info: For the last 14 years we have lived a somewhat nomadic life. We live part time in various states and countries. As an example, in 2014 we only spent 3 months in the U.S. In 2013 we spent 6 months in the U.S., but only 3 months in our state of residence. In 2012 we spent 6 months in the U.S., but only 1 month in our state of residence. With our PPO insurance we can make use of it in other parts of the U.S. (at least get negotiated rates since our deductible is so high), but when we are out of the country the premiums are mostly just money thrown away.
Now we are faced with keeping the high deductible PPO at the new much higher 2015 cost so that when we are in the U.S. from time to time we have some coverage (and also to comply with the law). Or for 2015 get the cost back down to the 2014 cost, but with an HMO that would be almost totally useless for us. In other words, just pay the premiums and think of it as a high tax that we get nothing for. And then in December 2015 we will probably find that even that is no good any longer when we get the next 68% or 77% or 112% increase.
I see that this year healthcare.gov is showing a few POS and EPO plans that are more than HMO plans, but less than PPO plans. I am still investigating to see if they have any advantages compared to HMO for our unique case. We have until 12/15 to decide, but we are traveling to to another country for a month on 12/10 so this needs to be taken care of before then, within the next 3 days.
All of our choices seem horrible, but I wonder if some of the very knowledgeable people here might have some ideas we haven't thought of?
My wife and I bought a high deductible PPO plan ($6000/each, $12,700/family) on healthcare.gov in December 2013. We had been buying private health insurance since 1999. Recently we got a letter saying that assuming nothing had changed (same plan, same income) then we were going to have our premium increased by 68% on 1/1. Our income has gone up a bit since 12/2013 though (a little more in dividends and interest) so it is going to be more than a 68% increase. When I plugged in my expected 2015 income (just 7% more than what I estimated our 2014 income would be) healthcare.gov says our premium is going up 98%.
Right after we got that letter my sister told me that my nephew who also bought a plan on healthcare.gov received a similar letter. His premium is going up 105%! His income is slightly up since 2013 too though so he is looking at a more than 105% increase.
My wife and I are trying to figure out what to do now. We already have the cheapest PPO plan available. We spend lots of time out of state, after all we are FIRE, so it seems like an HMO, which is about the same price in 2015 as the PPO was in 2014, would be pretty much pointless.
New info: For the last 14 years we have lived a somewhat nomadic life. We live part time in various states and countries. As an example, in 2014 we only spent 3 months in the U.S. In 2013 we spent 6 months in the U.S., but only 3 months in our state of residence. In 2012 we spent 6 months in the U.S., but only 1 month in our state of residence. With our PPO insurance we can make use of it in other parts of the U.S. (at least get negotiated rates since our deductible is so high), but when we are out of the country the premiums are mostly just money thrown away.
Now we are faced with keeping the high deductible PPO at the new much higher 2015 cost so that when we are in the U.S. from time to time we have some coverage (and also to comply with the law). Or for 2015 get the cost back down to the 2014 cost, but with an HMO that would be almost totally useless for us. In other words, just pay the premiums and think of it as a high tax that we get nothing for. And then in December 2015 we will probably find that even that is no good any longer when we get the next 68% or 77% or 112% increase.
I see that this year healthcare.gov is showing a few POS and EPO plans that are more than HMO plans, but less than PPO plans. I am still investigating to see if they have any advantages compared to HMO for our unique case. We have until 12/15 to decide, but we are traveling to to another country for a month on 12/10 so this needs to be taken care of before then, within the next 3 days.
All of our choices seem horrible, but I wonder if some of the very knowledgeable people here might have some ideas we haven't thought of?
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