How much has your health insurance premium increase??

Up from $89 to $114 out of my pocket each month but I volunteer to pay out of pocket for the company's premium plan which is probably about the best insurance money can buy. I could pay nothing out of pocket and still have a better than average plan by far.

 

As a person that works for a small business with 50 employees and in the insurance business I can say:

our health premiums went up 27% this year-but this is due to the age and claim history of our employees with maybe 3% as the result of future mandates

What most people who blab unintelligently about this stuff don't realize as pgabriel pointed out, the rising health care costs have more to do with medical costs associated with an aging population and advances in medical abilities. With baby boomers aging the pool is being strained by a large portion of the population/pool undergoing more expensive procedures to keep them alive. In a way, we're going to become slaves to our advancing technology because we can keep people alive-when 50 years ago they would have just passed away-along with a $900,000 bill when the person hasn't even paid in but a fraction of that cost to the pool. The fear mongering was politics, the aging population and medical costs with keeping people alive is the real issue in any health insurance debate concerning rate hikes.

Until group policies start underwriting individuals moreso instead of groups the young and healthy will always bare the burden for the older and less healthy. Just the way insurance pooling works to derive rates. Sounds like a ponzi scheme eh?

 

My family has been uninsured for the past year of my unemployment. I'm working again but making ~$40,000 less than before. The insurance (base coverage, no "buy up") I was offered for a family of 4 is ~25% of my net income. Needless to say I just can't afford it right now since we're barely getting by.

I don't know what needs to be done to fix health care but I know it shouldn't cost 25% of a workers income to insure his family.

 

^^^^Damn man that sucks. Sorry to hear that.

As to the thread, mine increased ~5%. As a whole, however, it is decreasing because the drama outlined previously in this thread is now over. The wife moved to a new position in the UH system which effectively necessitates the state re-hiring her thereby opening up the 31 day EOI-free period. Starting next year she basically gets free insurance and I pay ~$120 less per month.

 

Have you looked into a high deductible plan on the open market? Better to have catastrophic coverage than none-- although it does FEEL like you are paying for nothing.

Alternatively, you could get an Accident Plan which covers medical costs up to a stated limit. For a family this would run about $60-100 per month depending on variables (numbers, locations, limits et al). Again since you are more likely to need significant benefits due to an Accident rather than an Illness so it is a way to minimize your risk at nominal cost.

 

Premiums went up 10%, deductible increased 50%, out of pocket maximum increased 50%.

 

My cost would have went up $12/month (I don't know about my employers portion), but I switched to a higher deductible plan that was $8/month less, plus they partially fund an HSA. It was offered for the first time last year, but I missed the enrollment period.