Just got my 2106 BCBS policy renewal. Up 29%. Biggest jump ever I believe. Obamacare is really doing a great job at reducing costs.

I guess if BCBS continues to raise my premium by 29% each year?...some day I will qualify for a subsidy!!!!! Oh...it does not work that way.

(11-13-2015 03:09 PM)Fo Shizzle Wrote:  Just got my 2106 BCBS policy renewal. Up 29%. Biggest jump ever I believe. Obamacare is really doing a great job at reducing costs.

I guess if BCBS continues to raise my premium by 29% each year?...some day I will qualify for a subsidy!!!!! Oh...it does not work that way.

Being a self employed 50 something is a bummer. But hey on the bright side, if you don't qualify for any tax credits at least you are making good money. So what is your premium/deductible etc.? Family or individual plan?

(11-13-2015 05:32 PM)dawgitall Wrote:  

(11-13-2015 03:09 PM)Fo Shizzle Wrote:  Just got my 2106 BCBS policy renewal. Up 29%. Biggest jump ever I believe. Obamacare is really doing a great job at reducing costs.

I guess if BCBS continues to raise my premium by 29% each year?...some day I will qualify for a subsidy!!!!! Oh...it does not work that way.

Being a self employed 50 something is a bummer. But hey on the bright side, if you don't qualify for any tax credits at least you are making good money. So what is your premium/deductible etc.? Family or individual plan?

Some of us know it as the american dream. Yes, Obama took a dump on that too.

(11-13-2015 05:57 PM)UofMstateU Wrote:  

(11-13-2015 05:32 PM)dawgitall Wrote:  

(11-13-2015 03:09 PM)Fo Shizzle Wrote:  Just got my 2106 BCBS policy renewal. Up 29%. Biggest jump ever I believe. Obamacare is really doing a great job at reducing costs.

I guess if BCBS continues to raise my premium by 29% each year?...some day I will qualify for a subsidy!!!!! Oh...it does not work that way.

Being a self employed 50 something is a bummer. But hey on the bright side, if you don't qualify for any tax credits at least you are making good money. So what is your premium/deductible etc.? Family or individual plan?

Some of us know it as the american dream. Yes, Obama took a dump on that too.

Not when it comes to health insurance.

(11-13-2015 06:56 PM)dawgitall Wrote:  

(11-13-2015 05:57 PM)UofMstateU Wrote:  

(11-13-2015 05:32 PM)dawgitall Wrote:  

(11-13-2015 03:09 PM)Fo Shizzle Wrote:  Just got my 2106 BCBS policy renewal. Up 29%. Biggest jump ever I believe. Obamacare is really doing a great job at reducing costs.

I guess if BCBS continues to raise my premium by 29% each year?...some day I will qualify for a subsidy!!!!! Oh...it does not work that way.

Being a self employed 50 something is a bummer. But hey on the bright side, if you don't qualify for any tax credits at least you are making good money. So what is your premium/deductible etc.? Family or individual plan?

Some of us know it as the american dream. Yes, Obama took a dump on that too.

Not when it comes to health insurance.

So you agree Obama screwed up the american dream. Interesting.

(11-13-2015 06:57 PM)UofMstateU Wrote:  

(11-13-2015 06:56 PM)dawgitall Wrote:  

(11-13-2015 05:57 PM)UofMstateU Wrote:  

(11-13-2015 05:32 PM)dawgitall Wrote:  

(11-13-2015 03:09 PM)Fo Shizzle Wrote:  Just got my 2106 BCBS policy renewal. Up 29%. Biggest jump ever I believe. Obamacare is really doing a great job at reducing costs.

I guess if BCBS continues to raise my premium by 29% each year?...some day I will qualify for a subsidy!!!!! Oh...it does not work that way.

Being a self employed 50 something is a bummer. But hey on the bright side, if you don't qualify for any tax credits at least you are making good money. So what is your premium/deductible etc.? Family or individual plan?

Some of us know it as the american dream. Yes, Obama took a dump on that too.

Not when it comes to health insurance.

So you agree Obama screwed up the american dream. Interesting.

Not at all. Health insurance on the individual market has always be extremely high for older people. We tend to be the ones that spend more on health care and have more medical problems. Prior to the ACA many couldn't get coverage at all or rates were so high and coverage so limited it wasn't practical. Today you can't be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition or charged more that (IINM) 4 times as much as the premium for a twenty something. Also crappy policies that a lot of people had and didn't even realize how crappy they were because they hadn't needed much health care yet, are a thing of the past.

Health care is very expensive. There is no getting around that. But insurance rates in North Carolina are higher then they would be had our General Assembly not taken or neglected to take several actions. One of our biggest problems is the lack of competition as BCBS is the only available carrier for all 100 counties. There are only a couple of other carriers that serve parts of the state. Had the GA not passed a law, some call it "the stubborn tax", banning the establishment of a state exchange, rejecting medicaid expansion and banning the state insurance commission from so much as offering advise to consumers about their insurance options, rates would be lower. Had the GA accepted expanded medicaid the pool of policy holders in the private market would have been healthier. The insurance commissioner was already in talks with two companies in 2011 ready to enter the NC market before this was passed. He projects that we could have had five or more companies at this point. There is also the 4 percent tax for using the federal market. The GA tied the hands of the insurance commissioner so that he has little ability to protect consumers when it comes to health insurance rate increases the way he does with home owner and auto insurance.

lol

Giggles.

24.8%^, yet "no longer offered due to zerOcare "compliance", knave.

10 months later, 25% ^, yet.. "No longer... Lather, rinse, repeat, Knave.

And I'm leaving out the ridiculous deductibles, in the near tens of thousands, more than what I paid for an otherwise comparable plan just 2 years ago.

Quick! Someone call me a liar!!!

Good being a subject, amirite?

(11-13-2015 05:32 PM)dawgitall Wrote:  

(11-13-2015 03:09 PM)Fo Shizzle Wrote:  Just got my 2106 BCBS policy renewal. Up 29%. Biggest jump ever I believe. Obamacare is really doing a great job at reducing costs.

I guess if BCBS continues to raise my premium by 29% each year?...some day I will qualify for a subsidy!!!!! Oh...it does not work that way.

Being a self employed 50 something is a bummer. But hey on the bright side, if you don't qualify for any tax credits at least you are making good money. So what is your premium/deductible etc.? Family or individual plan?

Individual plan will be 678 for a schitty 5k deductible plan. Looking at UHC now. I finally have another option in my area. Looks like UHC may have better benefits for the same outrageous money. BCBS cant be accessed by the web until the 15th..so I don't know what options I have with them now.

The first thing that must be done to help fix this mess is to open up the insurance marketplace nation wide. I should be able to buy a policy anywhere and let competition for customers help reduce premiums and improve benefits.

(11-13-2015 07:43 PM)dawgitall Wrote:  

(11-13-2015 06:57 PM)UofMstateU Wrote:  

(11-13-2015 06:56 PM)dawgitall Wrote:  

(11-13-2015 05:57 PM)UofMstateU Wrote:  

(11-13-2015 05:32 PM)dawgitall Wrote:  Being a self employed 50 something is a bummer. But hey on the bright side, if you don't qualify for any tax credits at least you are making good money. So what is your premium/deductible etc.? Family or individual plan?

Some of us know it as the american dream. Yes, Obama took a dump on that too.

Not when it comes to health insurance.

So you agree Obama screwed up the american dream. Interesting.

Not at all. Health insurance on the individual market has always be extremely high for older people. We tend to be the ones that spend more on health care and have more medical problems. Prior to the ACA many couldn't get coverage at all or rates were so high and coverage so limited it wasn't practical. Today you can't be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition or charged more that (IINM) 4 times as much as the premium for a twenty something. Also crappy policies that a lot of people had and didn't even realize how crappy they were because they hadn't needed much health care yet, are a thing of the past.

Health care is very expensive. There is no getting around that. But insurance rates in North Carolina are higher then they would be had our General Assembly not taken or neglected to take several actions. One of our biggest problems is the lack of competition as BCBS is the only available carrier for all 100 counties. There are only a couple of other carriers that serve parts of the state. Had the GA not passed a law, some call it "the stubborn tax", banning the establishment of a state exchange, rejecting medicaid expansion and banning the state insurance commission from so much as offering advise to consumers about their insurance options, rates would be lower. Had the GA accepted expanded medicaid the pool of policy holders in the private market would have been healthier. The insurance commissioner was already in talks with two companies in 2011 ready to enter the NC market before this was passed. He projects that we could have had five or more companies at this point. There is also the 4 percent tax for using the federal market. The GA tied the hands of the insurance commissioner so that he has little ability to protect consumers when it comes to health insurance rate increases the way he does with home owner and auto insurance.

I agree that the GA did not help the situation in regard to the ACA...but...it seems that even in states where this did not happen similar rate hikes are still happening. The second preexisting conditions were forced to be covered this was foreseeable. Insurance companies are a business...not a charity.

Rates going up a lot down here in Georgia as well, and Georgia is one of the states that refused to expand medicare or form its own exchange. My initial estimate is almost double what it was last year.

I don't blame President Obama no more than I blamed his predecessor. Until we figure out a way to make health care universal, it's a free market thing and insurance has been getting worse for the past decade or so, or at least that's been my experience. It seems to have really started around Katrina. Premiums go up, deductibles go up, options become fewer.

But hey, insurance companies are in it to make a killing, I understand that. So ... I'll start using VA if I have to, just keep a policy on my wife.

(11-14-2015 11:29 AM)gsu95 Wrote:  Rates going up a lot down here in Georgia as well, and Georgia is one of the states that refused to expand medicare or form its own exchange. My initial estimate is almost double what it was last year.

I don't blame President Obama no more than I blamed his predecessor. Until we figure out a way to make health care universal, it's a free market thing and insurance has been getting worse for the past decade or so, or at least that's been my experience. It seems to have really started around Katrina. Premiums go up, deductibles go up, options become fewer.

But hey, insurance companies are in it to make a killing, I understand that. So ... I'll start using VA if I have to, just keep a policy on my wife.

As Owl has expounded and explained very well... many times...We should have gone toward a Bismarck type system instead of this mess. I blame the GOP as much as I blame the Libs. It was clear that health care reform was going to happen. The GOP should have been ready to come to the table and help draft a good plan. They didn't. Now we have one of the worst systems on the planet.

(11-13-2015 05:32 PM)dawgitall Wrote:  So what is your premium/deductible etc.? Family or individual plan?

What does that matter?

(11-14-2015 11:48 AM)uofmcamaro Wrote:  

(11-13-2015 05:32 PM)dawgitall Wrote:  So what is your premium/deductible etc.? Family or individual plan?

What does that matter?

In regard to a 29% increase?...you are correct. It is immaterial.

This is a relic of the McCarren-Ferguson Act which gave the states the right to regulate insurance. I generally respect the concept of federalism. But here in New York, the special interests have convinced the legislators (that is, contributed enough to their campaigns) that all kinds of superfluous provisions have to be included. Therefore, no insurance company can offer a bare bones/catestrophic policy. And it costs a lot to get approved to offer in NY. I'm sure other states have similar barriers to entry.

(11-14-2015 01:48 PM)QuestionSocratic Wrote:  This is a relic of the McCarren-Ferguson Act which gave the states the right to regulate insurance. I generally respect the concept of federalism. But here in New York, the special interests have convinced the legislators (that is, contributed enough to their campaigns) that all kinds of superfluous provisions have to be included. Therefore, no insurance company can offer a bare bones/catestrophic policy. And it costs a lot to get approved to offer in NY. I'm sure other states have similar barriers to entry.

You can damn well believe that the insurance lobby was involved with drafting this POS legislation and they got exactly what they wanted at the expense of the taxpayers.

(11-14-2015 11:41 AM)Fo Shizzle Wrote:  

(11-14-2015 11:29 AM)gsu95 Wrote:  Rates going up a lot down here in Georgia as well, and Georgia is one of the states that refused to expand medicare or form its own exchange. My initial estimate is almost double what it was last year.

I don't blame President Obama no more than I blamed his predecessor. Until we figure out a way to make health care universal, it's a free market thing and insurance has been getting worse for the past decade or so, or at least that's been my experience. It seems to have really started around Katrina. Premiums go up, deductibles go up, options become fewer.

But hey, insurance companies are in it to make a killing, I understand that. So ... I'll start using VA if I have to, just keep a policy on my wife.

As Owl has expounded and explained very well... many times...We should have gone toward a Bismarck type system instead of this mess. I blame the GOP as much as I blame the Libs. It was clear that health care reform was going to happen. The GOP should have been ready to come to the table and help draft a good plan. They didn't. Now we have one of the worst systems on the planet.

Dont revise history. The republicans were at the table. Obama didnt like what they were saying, and then locked them out of the meetings. That is what happened.

I blame republicans for spending and sh*t, but this healthcare law is nothing but the democrats fault. It is not one iota the fault of a republican. None whatsoever. Quit trying to pin blame on the republicans. This is completely on the democrats.

Perhaps you have forgotten that Obama got this through with 0 republican votes, and the senate changed the rules to get passage. Perhaps you have forgotten that the democrats locked the republicans out of the meetings.

I havent.

(11-14-2015 02:08 PM)UofMstateU Wrote:  

(11-14-2015 11:41 AM)Fo Shizzle Wrote:  

(11-14-2015 11:29 AM)gsu95 Wrote:  Rates going up a lot down here in Georgia as well, and Georgia is one of the states that refused to expand medicare or form its own exchange. My initial estimate is almost double what it was last year.

I don't blame President Obama no more than I blamed his predecessor. Until we figure out a way to make health care universal, it's a free market thing and insurance has been getting worse for the past decade or so, or at least that's been my experience. It seems to have really started around Katrina. Premiums go up, deductibles go up, options become fewer.

But hey, insurance companies are in it to make a killing, I understand that. So ... I'll start using VA if I have to, just keep a policy on my wife.

As Owl has expounded and explained very well... many times...We should have gone toward a Bismarck type system instead of this mess. I blame the GOP as much as I blame the Libs. It was clear that health care reform was going to happen. The GOP should have been ready to come to the table and help draft a good plan. They didn't. Now we have one of the worst systems on the planet.

Dont revise history. The republicans were at the table. Obama didnt like what they were saying, and then locked them out of the meetings. That is what happened.

I blame republicans for spending and sh*t, but this healthcare law is nothing but the democrats fault. It is not one iota the fault of a republican. None whatsoever. Quit trying to pin blame on the republicans. This is completely on the democrats.

Perhaps you have forgotten that Obama got this through with 0 republican votes, and the senate changed the rules to get passage. Perhaps you have forgotten that the democrats locked the republicans out of the meetings.

I havent.

They should have been on top of this before Obama. That is why I blame them. HC reform was inevitable. They allowed themselves to shut out by not doing a damn thing earlier while they had power. Now we have this schithole legislation.

(11-14-2015 02:15 PM)Fo Shizzle Wrote:  

(11-14-2015 02:08 PM)UofMstateU Wrote:  

(11-14-2015 11:41 AM)Fo Shizzle Wrote:  

(11-14-2015 11:29 AM)gsu95 Wrote:  Rates going up a lot down here in Georgia as well, and Georgia is one of the states that refused to expand medicare or form its own exchange. My initial estimate is almost double what it was last year.

I don't blame President Obama no more than I blamed his predecessor. Until we figure out a way to make health care universal, it's a free market thing and insurance has been getting worse for the past decade or so, or at least that's been my experience. It seems to have really started around Katrina. Premiums go up, deductibles go up, options become fewer.

But hey, insurance companies are in it to make a killing, I understand that. So ... I'll start using VA if I have to, just keep a policy on my wife.

As Owl has expounded and explained very well... many times...We should have gone toward a Bismarck type system instead of this mess. I blame the GOP as much as I blame the Libs. It was clear that health care reform was going to happen. The GOP should have been ready to come to the table and help draft a good plan. They didn't. Now we have one of the worst systems on the planet.

Dont revise history. The republicans were at the table. Obama didnt like what they were saying, and then locked them out of the meetings. That is what happened.

I blame republicans for spending and sh*t, but this healthcare law is nothing but the democrats fault. It is not one iota the fault of a republican. None whatsoever. Quit trying to pin blame on the republicans. This is completely on the democrats.

Perhaps you have forgotten that Obama got this through with 0 republican votes, and the senate changed the rules to get passage. Perhaps you have forgotten that the democrats locked the republicans out of the meetings.

I havent.

They should have been on top of this before Obama. That is why I blame them. HC reform was inevitable. They allowed themselves to shut out by not doing a damn thing earlier while they had power. Now we have this schithole legislation.

They wouldnt have gotten anything passed because the democrats would have blocked it. The democrats would have blocked anything that shored up health insurance, because it would have made the single payer dream they had that more impossible to achieve.

In fact, the only way I believe we can ultimately fix the law is to remove exemptions and force everyone under Obamacare. That would cause an outcry loud enough that everyone must work to fix it. Force the unions on it, the government workers on it, all exempted corporations on it. We're getting there now, as mor eof the law is implemented, people are getting exposed to the ****** parts of it they were shielded from.

(11-14-2015 01:23 PM)Fo Shizzle Wrote:  

(11-14-2015 11:48 AM)uofmcamaro Wrote:  

(11-13-2015 05:32 PM)dawgitall Wrote:  So what is your premium/deductible etc.? Family or individual plan?

What does that matter?

In regard to a 29% increase?...you are correct. It is immaterial.

Exactly. The product rose 29% on the same policy.