Our health care coverage went UP! Surprise!

[Evil_Conservative]

My husband received the coverage information for the 2011 health care coverage.  The letter said that the health care rates have skyrocketed, but instead of raising what they deduct from his paycheck, they will raise the co-pays.

Our office visit co-pay is going from $20 to $25
Emergency room visit is going from $50 to $150
Generic medicine goes from $10 to $20
Regular brand medicine is going from $20 to $70-$80 (depending on the brand)

It *COULD* be worse.  We knew the higher rates were coming and we were dreading getting this letter.  It is what it is.  Thankfully my husband's company was nice enough (or would it be the insurance company) to not take more money from my husband's check.

Still depressing.....

[IassaFTots]

  It is a fine line, balancing initial cost to the employee, and changing benefit design.  A lot of companies I have worked for have changed copays/deductibles/Out of pockets, and increased cost to the employee at the same time.  Sounds like your husband works for a considerate company.  I would plan on a significant increase next year, with no significant plan design changes.  Most companies are increasing costs/decreasing services to plan for what might happen with higher inflation and increased expenses in the next year.

[Evil_Conservative]

His company treats their employees (and their families) very generously.  His company only has about 200 employees.  

We only use the office visit and generic prescription (when necessary) co-pays.

We still have the 90/10 coverage.  Just higher co-pays.

[ironhorsedriver]

Mine went up as well. Prescription co-pay went way up, still better than most though. My fear is seeing business's start opting out of coverage all together in favor of Obama care.  

[soleil]

Our insurance has gone up as well. Of course, my husband's company switched the freakin' insurance. But our co-pay went from $25 to $30, but I have come out better on meds. A med I used to pay $25/month for is now only $15/month.

I wish antibiotics weren't so high. When my baby girl was sick last time with a sinus infection, her antibiotic cost me $35. Without insurance, it would've been $90. CRAZY!!! Especially since my husband just went to the doc today for his neck problems and got 3 meds for under $20. Sterioids, pain pills, and muscle relaxers. Yeah, he'll be in la-la land for a bit.

[IassaFTots]

Mine went up as well. Prescription co-pay went way up, still better than most though. My fear is seeing business's start opting out of coverage all together in favor of Obama care.  

It's a valid fear.  My company has been discussing it.  We have 750 people, and chose to go ahead and change the plan design and forgo any benefit from grandfathering our plans.  Just in case we decide to opt out in the next year.  

[Evil_Conservative]

Our insurance has gone up as well. Of course, my husband's company switched the freakin' insurance. But our co-pay went from $25 to $30, but I have come out better on meds. A med I used to pay $25/month for is now only $15/month.

I wish antibiotics weren't so high. When my baby girl was sick last time with a sinus infection, her antibiotic cost me $35. Without insurance, it would've been $90. CRAZY!!! Especially since my husband just went to the doc today for his neck problems and got 3 meds for under $20. Sterioids, pain pills, and muscle relaxers. Yeah, he'll be in la-la land for a bit.

Agree!

My situation is a bit different, but when I got my prescription for my migraines... the SIX pills would have cost me $125 without insurance for GENERICS!

[JohnnyReb]

Don't tell me your problems, tell Obama. He said your healthcare would be cheaper...........uh..........uh........OH! Now I get what he meant by cheaper...lower grade healthcare....nevermind.

[MrsSmith]

I work in healthcare, for a place that mostly self-insures and then belongs to a PPO.  Ours went up, too.  In addition, they're currently assessing our coverage to see if it's legal...or grandfathered.  We may have to go with a regular insurance company, which will double our premiums, raise our deductible, and get rid of several of our agreements with other providers that keep cost down.  But I can put my grown daughter back on my plan...which would raise it from Employee+child to Family, adding nearly 60% to my cost.  Woohoo.   

[rich_t]

I am waiting to see if my costs increase for next year.  Open enrollment is next month.

If it goes up, I sure hope it isn't by much.  I'm just now getting back on my financial feet after a prolonged period of unemployment.

[NHSparky]

Looking at a 20 percent premium increase AND increased deductibles/co-pays.

Hopey-changey, my dyin' ass.

[njpines]

I should be getting next year's enrollment info next week (Aetna) -- NOT looking forward to it! 

[soleil]

Agree!

My situation is a bit different, but when I got my prescription for my migraines... the SIX pills would have cost me $125 without insurance for GENERICS!

Yes, I know a gal who uses them. It is ridiculous. It was like that when I was on Zofran for my nausea while pregnant. Insurance would only cover 21 pills a month. Hello!! I needed one for every day. And 21 pills with insurance was $120ish. I don't remember the exact price, but this is a med given to cancer patients going through chemo. I can't imagine what else they are already having to pay for.

Are you talking about Imitrex or another med?

[true_blood]

Sorry to hear that EC!! That does suck. I feel bad for the employers that have to tell their employees that health insurance rates are going up. There are a lot of companies that are generous and don't want to pass the extra costs onto the employees, but these are hard times for sure. I have worked at a couple of shops that were pretty good to their employees.

[Evil_Conservative]

Yes, I know a gal who uses them. It is ridiculous. It was like that when I was on Zofran for my nausea while pregnant. Insurance would only cover 21 pills a month. Hello!! I needed one for every day. And 21 pills with insurance was $120ish. I don't remember the exact price, but this is a med given to cancer patients going through chemo. I can't imagine what else they are already having to pay for.

Are you talking about Imitrex or another med?

I'm on sumatriptan or something like that.  I forgot the name of it already.  Only one pill left.  I'll get more if my migraines become more frequent again.  Ever since I started those pills, the number of migraines per month have decreased.

[soleil]

I'm on sumatriptan or something like that.  I forgot the name of it already.  Only one pill left.  I'll get more if my migraines become more frequent again.  Ever since I started those pills, the number of migraines per month have decreased.

Oh migraines. They are a bitch. I don't get them often. Maybe once or twice a year these days. I did grow up with them though. I used to get them like crazy as a kid (daily). When my mom took me to the doc about my headaches, he said they are migraines. She said "she's 5, how can they be migraines". I grew out of them somewhat when I was a teen. Everyone on that side of my family endured migraines as a child and teen. I worry about my baby girl. It isn't right for a kid to have a migraine. But there you have it. I am thankful I did outgrow them for the most part. Sorry you still have them. They are a pain. Literally. And I swear, I've always said the best feeling in the world is when you see that pain go away. When it finally stops. I think that must be what Heaven feels like.

[Wineslob]

My husband received the coverage information for the 2011 health care coverage.  The letter said that the health care rates have skyrocketed, but instead of raising what they deduct from his paycheck, they will raise the co-pays.

Our office visit co-pay is going from $20 to $25
Emergency room visit is going from $50 to $150
Generic medicine goes from $10 to $20
Regular brand medicine is going from $20 to $70-$80 (depending on the brand)

It *COULD* be worse.  We knew the higher rates were coming and we were dreading getting this letter.  It is what it is.  Thankfully my husband's company was nice enough (or would it be the insurance company) to not take more money from my husband's check.

Still depressing.....

Those copays are better than what I've been paying........................for years.
The insurace we have now is crap. Try this on for size: the first $2000.00 in expenses is covered. The next $3000.00 is NOT. This includes RX's because there is no prescription plan (they can also refuse to cover a presc because it's too costly, which they have done to me) It all comes out of the same "pot". On top of that, the insurance has a yearly "health fair" where they do blood draws, and do the BMI testing (a flawed system). If you opt out, which they say you can do, you get charged an EXTRA $60.00 (on top of the roughly $280.00 per month that comes out of my paychecks) a month on your insurance payments.  

[Evil_Conservative]

Those copays are better than what I've been paying........................for years.
The insurace we have now is crap. Try this on for size: the first $2000.00 in expenses is covered. The next $3000.00 is NOT. This includes RX's because there is no prescription plan (they can also refuse to cover a presc because it's too costly, which they have done to me) It all comes out of the same "pot". On top of that, the insurance has a yearly "health fair" where they do blood draws, and do the BMI testing (a flawed system). If you opt out, which they say you can do, you get charged an EXTRA $60.00 (on top of the roughly $280.00 per month that comes out of my paychecks) a month on your insurance payments.   

That's a really wacky health insurance system.  Never seen one like that. 

BMI pisses me off.  It always says I am "obese" when my numbers are ran.  I am no where near the obesity line.  The Wii Fit was the first that said I was obese.  It was offensive.  I just base my weight off of the average for my age/height, which puts me in the "normal" range.

[Wineslob]

That's a really wacky health insurance system.  Never seen one like that. 

BMI pisses me off.  It always says I am "obese" when my numbers are ran.  I am no where near the obesity line.  The Wii Fit was the first that said I was obese.  It was offensive.  I just base my weight off of the average for my age/height, which puts me in the "normal" range.

Cigna.....avoid it like the plague.

Ya the dimwits always say I'm in the 75% percentile for obeseity....................except they get my height wrong by 2"  which puts me in the "normal" range.

[Ralph Wiggum]

I work in healthcare, for a place that mostly self-insures and then belongs to a PPO.  Ours went up, too.  In addition, they're currently assessing our coverage to see if it's legal...or grandfathered.  We may have to go with a regular insurance company, which will double our premiums, raise our deductible, and get rid of several of our agreements with other providers that keep cost down.  But I can put my grown daughter back on my plan...which would raise it from Employee+child to Family, adding nearly 60% to my cost.  Woohoo.   

I'm with a healthcare company as well, and we had our benefits meeting last Thursday.  Since I'm single with no kids, mine didn't go up nearly as much as married & those with dependents.  We changed our plan to five tiers instead of three with a solid 15-25% bump in premiums.  Thankfully the co-pays didn't increase.

The company I'm with now is pretty reasonable.  I worked for a hospital group for quite a few years and their plan was HORRIBLE.  I got on the former Mrs. Wiggum's plan, which saved us a ton.

[MrsSmith]

I'm with a healthcare company as well, and we had our benefits meeting last Thursday.  Since I'm single with no kids, mine didn't go up nearly as much as married & those with dependents.  We changed our plan to five tiers instead of three with a solid 15-25% bump in premiums.  Thankfully the co-pays didn't increase.

The company I'm with now is pretty reasonable.  I worked for a hospital group for quite a few years and their plan was HORRIBLE.  I got on the former Mrs. Wiggum's plan, which saved us a ton.

Today, the group that oversees our Self-Pay plan gave a quick overview of the upcoming rules changes and how they would affect us.  Multiple times, there was the mention of employers with less than 25 or less than 50 employees that make less than $50,000 per year...and how those employers would escape from the most expensive and negative aspects of this law.  Finally someone asked if this gave employers incentive to decrease employees and keep pay low...(DUH!)...the speaker just looked at her and said, "What would you do if you owned a business?"  It's so nice to see our government deliberately causing more unemployment and lower wages.   

[Ralph Wiggum]

Today, the group that oversees our Self-Pay plan gave a quick overview of the upcoming rules changes and how they would affect us.  Multiple times, there was the mention of employers with less than 25 or less than 50 employees that make less than $50,000 per year...and how those employers would escape from the most expensive and negative aspects of this law.  Finally someone asked if this gave employers incentive to decrease employees and keep pay low...(DUH!)...the speaker just looked at her and said, "What would you do if you owned a business?"  It's so nice to see our government deliberately causing more unemployment and lower wages.   

Hope & change we can believe in! 

[rich_t]

BTW...

For those that think Federal employees have a great plan....  They don't.

My wife works for the DLA.  My new plan is equal to or better than hers and costs a lot less, by about 1/2.

[Randy]

We haven't gotten our figures yet but they will be going up. If we pledge to be tobacco free then we'll save $50 a month! Isn't that wonderful? Until you realize what they're really saying is you'll be exempted from $50 of the upcoming increase. It's also not hard to deduce that it's going to be a big enough increase that $50 isn't going to matter.

Oh yeah and this year starts something new. You have to sign up each and every year now. Before all we had to do was nothing and we could let it ride. Not anymore. Of course they'll continue to hide the true costs until you've signed, like always.

[true_blood]

I got a letter in the mail the other day and my health insurance is going up as well. I pay 391.89 a month currently and it is going up to 429.29 a month. Good thing the dickhead sitting in the White House told us our premiums weren't going up, huh?!?
By the way, is that dickhead still out on the campaign trail for the democraps while our economy is STILL in shambles and job losses keep piling up?!? Of course he is!