<p>It is going to be so disappointing to the critics that you cant buy ACA plans retroactively. I was reading quite a few articles that people were just going to buy policies retroactively but I dont see anywhere where that is part of the rules. </p>
<p>I do think I am going to be paying more. Calmom, are you going to be paying more?</p>
<p>I do hope there isnt a loophole where you can move to a different state…</p>
<p>I think this is easy to read…</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.healthcare.gov/what-if-i-have-a-pre-existing-health-condition[/url]”>https://www.healthcare.gov/what-if-i-have-a-pre-existing-health-condition</a></p>
<p>“A change in your life that can make you eligible for a Special Enrollment Period to enroll in health coverage. Examples of qualifying life events are moving to a new state, changes in your income, and changes in your family size (for example, if you marry, divorce, have a baby, or become pregnant).”</p>
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<p>The Funky (that’s how she named it) was meningioma (front, right). The surgery was somewhat a success, but she still, several years later, has occasional seizures, one of her hands does not entirely work (her husband has to cut her steak for example) and she cannot be in bright and loud places for a long time. If you saw her on a street or talked to her, you would not think she suffers this way, because her disability is not visible. But it is very real.</p>
<p>The sad part is that her doctor told her, that the tumor was not supposed to grow so large until she was much older. Because it grew so large while she was young, it will grow again when she is older and she will have to have another surgery.</p>
<p>Re post # 421 -My situation is a little more complicated because I will turn 60 early in 2014 – and that’s moving into a new age category. So I pay more no matter what. Right now with an individual HSA, $3500 deductible, I’m paying a little over $400 per month. The rate sheet I got this year showed that for age 60+, the rates for the same coverage are probably around $650/month - but that is 2013 rates, 2014 would likely go up in any case. The rates being published for the exchanges show close to the same for a bronze plan. I have do do some thinking about whether bronze plan is better than, worse than, or roughly equivalent to the HSA. I think the maximum out-of-pocket will be the same in any case – so maybe that’s the number I should focus on. </p>
<p>I’m still puzzling over whether I will qualify for a subsidy or not – if I do, then the rate will be about $360/month if I go to the exchange, but I’d be in a situation where a modest increase in income could result in a huge premium hit – and since I am self-employed, it’s very tricky to predict what my bottom line will be from year to year. </p>
<p>So about the only thing I’m sure of is that I’ll be signing up for Medicare in 2019. :)</p>
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Well, it looks like there is, but that one is easier said than done. I mean, health insurance isn’t the only thing that people need to pay for.</p>
<p>Calmom, yeah. Your situation is complicated. </p>
<p>I figure my rates are going up no matter what.</p>
<p>Dstark, perfect is the enemy of the good, exactly.</p>
<p>Our daughter with special needs taught us this early on. Most days I am very happy to get to GOOD.</p>
<p>Musicmom, as you know, I understand. (And I am talking about you).</p>
<p>How many hours is your daughter working a week? Any more?</p>
<p>My daughter is still stuck on two but the big push comes at the end of the year when her schooling is over.</p>
<p>I guess you didn’t get my blatant hint, dietz.</p>
<p>posts on this thread:</p>
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<p>everyone else is in the single digits.</p>
<p>busdriver …not sure what you are referring too. </p>
<p>At this time it’s not possible to support or dismiss ACA. It is possible to see non-positive behaviors small businesses are undertaking (cutting hours, reducing employee benefits) in an attempt to stay successful. Yes, this bill is a work in progress…however so much is unknown, parts are being tweaked before implementation (on rumors or pressure), and the biggest issue…the costs to families, individuals and businesses… are just simply unknown. So really, it’s a wait and see game. It’s like the investment thread…one can guess…one can research, one can read the tea leaves, one can read the legal speak but until the bill comes in the mail…one doesn’t know. </p>
<p>Given the hopeful comments of some, maybe we will see a better policy for less in the non-exchange environment…I’ll report back when the concrete data is in…sometime in October I believe.</p>
<p>Dstark, I’m thinking that I will probably stay with my HSA unless the rates jump up too high. I just need to verify that it is a “grandfathered” plan and will meet the individual mandate requirements. I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to bank on getting a subsidy when I am borderline at the top end of the eligibility range.</p>
<p>Rates would have gone up for me without Obamacare too. I mean, I’ve always been very aware of the age break issues – that’s why I bought 3 separate individual policies rather than a family policy for myself and 2 kids. </p>
<p>Rate hike or not, Obamacare protects me from the unknown and unknowable. What separates me (low annual health care costs) from those who currently have exorbitant costs or have been uninsurable is a diagnosis. The reason that it costs more for a 60 year old to buy insurance is that the risks of getting seriously ill increase with with age. No one plans on getting sick or being injured in an accident – so I don’t think I really should view the monetary issues without taking into account the risk I am insuring against. In other words, it’s reasonably likely that my medical expenses over the next 5 years will go up much higher than the premiums I pay.</p>
<p>Calmom, I hope your medical expenses dont go up faster than your rates and I hope both are low. </p>
<p>We are in a waiting game.</p>
<p>Poetgrl, you must be really bored! Better post more to beat the competition. We’ll know you’re ready for the nut house when you count the diet and exercise thread. Or the investment thread. :D</p>
<p>Well, I do find this thread rather tedious, yes, but if you click on the number in the “replies” column, it gives you those numbers on any thread.</p>
<p>Sometimes when I wonder why a thread feels like the same tired thing, I check and find out, yep, “pretty much.”</p>
<p>Here I thought you’d counted each one. Better jazz it up to make it more interesting then.</p>
<p>I pay $592 a month for a fairly basic individual plan with no prescription coverage. I do have a fairly low deductible - $500. In 2011, I paid $450 a month. As I approach 60, I know my percentage increase will be even higher. Thank goodness my D is on her father’s policy until she’s 26. She has a chronic condition that will no doubt make her premiums quite high when she has to get her own coverage. She works for me and I’m not looking forward to figuring that one out down the road.</p>
<p>Lerkin, I guess I have to rewrite this. </p>
<p>Your friend’s tumor…Was all the visible tumor taken out?
Is she on seizure medication and seizing anyway?</p>
<p>How long was the recuperation after the brain surgery?</p>
<p>Good luck to your friend…</p>
<p>I’m curious how ACA will affect us. We have employer-based coverage though. We switched from a PPO to an HDHP/HSA plan this year. Our annual premium is about $2k. Our annual family deductible is $2600. Our out-of-pocket max including deductible is $5k. The employer contributes $1200 to each employee’s HSA. Preventive health care is covered 100%. Preventive prescription drugs is covered 100% after a $10 co-pay. Co-pay counts towards oop max but doesn’t count towards deductible. We pay the full cost of non-preventive prescription drugs up front until the plan deductible is met then we pay 10% of final drug cost (pharmacy claim amount minus insurance discount).</p>
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The exchanges will change that – her premium will be lower for the same reason as mine will be higher. The insurance companies are allowed to set different rates based on age, but not based on state of health. When she’s 26 she’ll be offered the exact same rate as any other 26 year old. </p>
<p>The policy I have has several rate categories, based on health status, and I qualified for the lowest. I think that the policy will stay relatively intact because of it’s “grandfathered” status – but the whole point of the exchanges is that individual health status as no bearing on rate. The hope is that the mandate will create a large enough pool of healthy people to help the insurers keep overall rates down.</p>
<p>Here is what I wonder about. The big risk for young people is in mental health. In the last two years I have seen many who had previously had no coverage, living with their parents, present with chronic mental health symptoms. The system seems to manage by maintaining barriers to mental health parity. How is that going to work, especially if we agree to expand the definition of Mental Health to include “spectrum” disorders and “stress”?</p>