DVM gone riding
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Post by DVM gone riding on Feb 5, 2011 14:13:55 GMT -5
Ours went up 30%, more than the last two years, our boss raised our portion from about 45/mos to 75/mos The thing I can't seem to get him to realize is that if we shopped for different types of policies for different people he would be ahead. I spend about 150-200 in health care a year. All I need is a catastrophe policy! But his kids probable have each cost 10k a year for their lives-they are driving up the companies policy all by themselves!!
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phil5185
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Post by phil5185 on Feb 5, 2011 14:26:52 GMT -5
Billed amount was $1,367. Discount through my insurance company was $1,247.96. That's right, just over a 90% discount. Last year, dw had appendicitis. Went to ER about 5PM, diagnosed by ER doc, operated on the next morning, about 30 minutes. Spent that day/nite in hospital, came home next afternoon. The bill was about $42,000. The second column was the 'actual' bill, about $7500 (included ER dr, op dr's, follow-up dr, the OR etc - ie, the full bill). Then the 'portion insured' column, about $6000. That left me with about a $1500 bill. Of course after the $42,000 sticker shock, the $1500 bill sounds like a good deal. But really, I left with the feeling that my $1500 payment would almost cover their costs. Say $300 for ER, $1000 for the dr's in OR for an hour, $200/nite for the room and 1/12 of a nurse for 48 hrs? Maybe $2500 at wholesale??
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formerexpat
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Post by formerexpat on Feb 5, 2011 14:52:34 GMT -5
Obamacare implementation in the state of NY - you didn't stand a prayer. How much does your company subsidize for you? Premium increases in the state of NY are bound to be amongst the highest in the nation so they're picking up a good amount of that increase for you.
Your compensation likely went up but unfortunately for you, most of it went to the cost of health care due to the billions in new fees levied on all types of industries including insurance & pharma of this legislation. See my list of Senators to vote out on the politics board and hold it closely to your chest for 2012.
That's just about spot on. Loss ratios for the industry as a whole are about 85% [i.e. 85 cents for each dollar in premium are used to pay claims]. Any and all increases from this bill will be an immediate increase to premiums.
But at least the unions that donated to Obama coffers are getting exemptions.
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schildi
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Post by schildi on Feb 5, 2011 16:21:24 GMT -5
So, expat, you think any and all increases in health cost are due to the attempt of implementing universal health? You do not think that there are other, maybe much worse problems with the system? Like law suits? Insurance the doctors have to pay because of that? Tests ordered by doctors that are not really needed (and may actually be bad for the patient) just because of fear of being sued? I do know that I have seen steep increases in cost over the last 5-6 years. That's all Obamas fault?
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Post by piratesparrot on Feb 5, 2011 16:29:33 GMT -5
Mine is about $85. per pay period. (every 2 weeks) which seems to go up every Jan. No dental is offered. Haven't had a raise in about 4 years. State taxes more than doubled in Jan. so I am bringing home a lot less than I was years ago.
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formerexpat
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Post by formerexpat on Feb 5, 2011 21:59:36 GMT -5
Year over year, compared to 2010 premiums, sure there is a small amount that is attributable to the things that you note above but when we're talking about 15-35% increases year over year in some states with one of the major changes being the health care bill, sometimes you need to just bite the bullet and put one and two together.
I have said many times that the things we need to correct in this country is a) the amount we spend on administration - and fixing this would include a completely automated billing and record keeping systems and b) reducing the amount of defensive medicine and medical malpractice liability insurance our doctors pay [which is 10x what doctors pay in Europe].
But these things were priced in 2009 premiums and we need to accept that these changes will kill jobs...just saying.
BTW - it's not a thought of mine. It's widely accepted, independent research within the industry. You can find research on the topic at any of the big 4 accounting firms research on the impact that this legislation has on the premium payers in America.
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schildi
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Post by schildi on Feb 6, 2011 1:34:44 GMT -5
expat, I do believe that there is an impact caused by what Obama is doing. But, I also believe that health care cost could be cut in half (or close to that) by addressing other urgent issues. With an impact bigger than this new health care bill, just in the other direction. Why is nobody screaming about that?
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Post by readsalot on Feb 6, 2011 11:51:36 GMT -5
We have AWESOME ins. we pay NOTHING for prescriptions. I love Teamsters!!!
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formerexpat
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Post by formerexpat on Feb 6, 2011 14:41:00 GMT -5
I've said on the old YM that I'm very angry that this bill focused on NONE of the real issues, or very little on the issues that could have made our system much better because the administration wasn't concerned about making it better - they were concerned with making the insurance industry a scapegoat and moving further in the direction of a complete government take over of the health care system. As for belief about the Obama bill - put it to rest and read the results from an independent auditor: www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-UnitedStates/Local%20Assets/Documents/Tax/us_tax_Prescriptionforchangefilled_033010.pdfThese increases are in the 2011 premiums. Which means they just pay you less and pay it in insurance premiums. I guess that means they earn the union dues you pay them. [/size]
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2011 16:22:14 GMT -5
We pay for private insurance. DH, DS and I all have different individual insurance plans because I'm in the high risk pool and it's cheaper to do it this way. We pay around $460 a month for me, plus $500 deductible and 20% coinsurance. DH's insurance is $380 a month. DS' is $170. Around 1k a month before deductibles, copays and coinsurance.
We are very heavy users of healthcare - DH has an autoimmune disorder that requires a visit with a nephrologist every three months or more often if he's been ill. He's had three surgical procedures in the last two years. I have a number of health problems resulting from having DS. Our insurance has spent far more on us than we have given them.
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Post by mcmommy on Feb 7, 2011 14:15:59 GMT -5
My premiums didn't increase, but the plan did switch from a $750 deductible to a $1200 deductible. Doesn't really bother me at all.
DH's plan stayed the same. Thankfully, his company absorbed the 3.5% monthly premium increase.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Feb 7, 2011 14:27:54 GMT -5
Ours hasn't gone up, they are auditing everyone to make sure our dependents are actually dependents that qualify for being on our insurance. Glad I have my marriage license and DD's birth certificate because when callled I am supposed to be able to supply them or else.
I told DH I have a feeling premiums will still go up, they are just going to spend thousands making it look like they did everything they could to prevent it.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Feb 7, 2011 18:59:31 GMT -5
Ours hasn't gone up, they are auditing everyone to make sure our dependents are actually dependents that qualify for being on our insurance. Glad I have my marriage license and DD's birth certificate because when callled I am supposed to be able to supply them or else.
They did this at my employer too. From the information that they provided, it was estimated that the university was paying for health insurance for about 20-30% of the people who were not eligible. Since they highly subsidize the family health insurance plan, that could wind up being quite a lot of money that the un.iversity is paying for people who are not on the payroll
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schildi
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Post by schildi on Feb 7, 2011 22:57:23 GMT -5
These increases are in the 2011 premiums. Sure they are. And some other (maybe even higher impact) items. Would anybody think that the new health reform could possibly be a good excuse for raising rates? No, no way! Which means they just pay you less and pay it in insurance premiums. I guess that means they earn the union dues you pay them. How do you know that, expat? Maybe readsalot's cash compensation is in par with the industry? That could mean the company shares some of its profits with the employees in the form of (more) subsidized insurance? You'd have to do a very thorough analysis.
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share88
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Post by share88 on Feb 8, 2011 2:06:53 GMT -5
I find it funny no one usually mentions the part of the health care bill I think will scare my insurance company to death - no lifetime limits. It went up quite a bit this year but I expect next year will be even worse when they have had more time to figure out how to categorize the risk.
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schildi
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Post by schildi on Feb 8, 2011 10:22:52 GMT -5
I find it funny no one usually mentions the part of the health care bill I think will scare my insurance company to death - no lifetime limits. It went up quite a bit this year but I expect next year will be even worse when they have had more time to figure out how to categorize the risk. I doubt that this will make such a huge difference when spread out over everybody, as not many have reached that limit ever anyway. Our insurance for example has never had a lifetime limit, so there should be no impact as there is no change. I think this is another lame excuse for the insurance companies ....
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2011 13:59:49 GMT -5
Ours hasn't gone up, they are auditing everyone to make sure our dependents are actually dependents that qualify for being on our insurance. <snip>. I told DH I have a feeling premiums will still go up, they are just going to spend thousands making it look like they did everything they could to prevent it. This is legitimate. As mich1 pointed out, most employers absorb part of the cost of health insurance. Getting people who don't qualify off the rolls reduces the subsidies. If I pay COBRA for my son when he gets out of college (which I did for a few mos. 3 years ago till he got a job with insurance), why should you pay the much lower employee rate to keep your 23-year old on the company plan? In answer to the OP: ours went up about 5.5% and I'm now paying about $100 every 2 weeks for DH and me, medical plus dental. That's not the whole story, though. We now have to pay 20% of charges, not 15%, and the deductibles and out-of-pocket maxima have tripled. So, they're passing a much higher portion of costs onto us although I'm still grateful for the coverage. A comment on Obamacare: every state has an Insurance Department that regulates rates, and requires solid statistical backup for rate increases (and sometimes won't allow the increases anyway because of political pressures). No company can just start charging 25% more and claim it's Obamacare. The changes can, however, have a major impact on your plan costs if your previous plan was cheap on preventative care (preventative is now required to be covered at 100%) or had a low lifetime maximum. I'd guess that allowing kids on the policy up to age 26 actually has a favorable impact; typically they're healthier than older adults.
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