<p>Wife works for CA STATE and she choose Kaiser Permanete for the family plan. Few years ago the cost was $15/mo for her share, last year it was $50/mo. Thanks to ACA, the plan is up for renewal and the cost for NEXT year is going to be $150/mo, an increase of 3 folds. Affordable? NO!</p>
<p>All this talk about verifying identity got me thinking about cyber security and I really do hope that whoever was designing the web-sites and developing the processes got it right.</p>
<p>I work in this area and it is mind boggling how many products and processes are out there that can be exploited without having complicated tools or knowledge, by just trying to exploit common weaknesses.</p>
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<p>Before ACA, millions of people would have given their eyeteeth to get insurance at 10 times that price. $150 a month is unaffordable for someone with a good fulltime job? You’ve got to be kidding. Do you have any idea how much the state pays to Kaiser for her insurance? You should count your blessings.</p>
<p>This is one of the many problems with linking insurance to employment. People haven’t the slightest clue how much their insurance is worth.</p>
<p>Uggh, we are slightly over that 400% cap, but since I am self employed and sole breadwinner for family, I think that CalMom’s example above about our deductions might just work for us to get some kind of break.</p>
<p>My H has a pre existing condition and lost his job two years ago. We had no choice but to stay on COBRA as long as we could. Then it took forever to finally find HIPPA through Anthem at a cost of $800/month and then I stripped my daughter and I off to get regular insurance. Now we can bundle our family back together and the total cost should be about the same, however I believe we have lost our ability to write off med expenses (including premiums) that exceed X% of our income. That is what is going to kill us</p>
<p>I believe that various states have set up their marketplace to allow shopping without an account, but the federal marketplace does not seem to allow you to see the prices until the application is complete.</p>
<p>In the state I am currently reviewing, thus far every company I have spoken with offers the same plans at the same prices, on & off the exchange so I can see the pricing.</p>
<p>Coralbrook,</p>
<p>are any of the plans you are looking at HSA compatible? This will allow for tax-deductible medical expense payments.</p>
<p>FWIW, I always felt that the tax code did not treat people who had to buy their insurance on open market fairly in comparison to people who bought it through employer.</p>
<p>dstark, I currently have the $5,200 HSA Blue Shield plan. The deductible and the out-of-pocket maximum is $5,200. In early 2012 I went from the $3,500 HSA Blue Shield to the $5,200 plan. The only difference was the deductible. I did it because it cost less. I did not have to go through underwriting to make the change. Those two plans are no longer available to the public. In June of 2012, Blue Shield changed their lineup of plans for the individual market.</p>
<p>My premium for the $5,200 plan is $679 a month. To be honest, I wasn’t aware I was getting such a good deal. At $8,148 a year, it seemed like I was paying a pretty good amount for insurance.</p>
<p>Edit: Drug coverage is the same as medical. After the $5,200 deductible, Blue Shield pays for the drugs.</p>
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<p>Many people weren’t. The idea of ACA is to start bringing the extremes closer together – people who were paying little or nothing for insurance, and people who couldn’t get insurance at any price.</p>
<p>ACA is a blunt instrument, to be sure, and it will be fine-tuned over the coming months and years. But in the meantime, sick people can get coverage, even if it makes some of us a little uncomfortable. I hope you agree that that was worth doing.</p>
<p>Just checking in once again to say that it’s day 9 and I still can’t get on to the federal exchange to view policy options. This is getting ridiculous. I need time to read, research and compare.</p>
<p>Yes, I realize that we have until Dec. 31. That’s not the point. This should not happen.</p>
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Outrageous!</p>
<p>LasMa, in my view $8,148 a year is no great shakes. Listen, I am happy that sick people can get coverage, although I wonder what it will mean if you can’t see the doctor because of these narrow networks. I just don’t think you had to screw the middle class or the unsubsidized subscriber to do it. There could have been other ways.</p>
<p>“All this talk about verifying identity got me thinking about cyber security and I really do hope that whoever was designing the web-sites and developing the processes got it right.”</p>
<p>I have read several stories recently pointing out that some (all?) of the people helping with the filing of enrollments in exchanges have access to all of our information, such as credit reports and tax returns.</p>
<p>Dear person whose wife works at CA state and got a premium increase:</p>
<p>You really have no idea if the increase is due to the ACA. I know many faculty members at public institutions who have had their premiums increase for years. Budget cutbacks from state government have made it necessary, along with fewer hirings (and rarely replacing faculty members who retired), more adjuncts, deferred maintenance, and an increase in student fees. Because they have hired little in the last years, their faculty is aging and so requires more medical care, necessitating higher rates.</p>
<p>$150 a month is still an awfully good price for health insurance.</p>
<p>“cost for NEXT year is going to be $150/mo, an increase of 3 folds. Affordable? NO!”</p>
<p>GMAFB. In what world is $150/month for health insurance for a person working in state government unaffordable? </p>
<p>My insurance is through NYS and if/when it goes up it will still be a good deal compared to what most people have to pay for health insurance.</p>
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<p>Yes, it is not only about technology, but also about processes. Mnsure exchange had to fire an employee, who inadvertently disclosed SSNs to an insurance agent. The exchanges need to have processes in place that protect against external cyber attacks, insider threat and plain stupidity.</p>
<p>Interesting discussion. I certainly do appreciate our employer provided health care (we pay a not-small portion through payroll deduction and have a decent deductible, but it still is a great benefit). I think many people are surprised to know how much companies pay for employee health care. Both my and my H’s employers listed the company contribution to health insurance in annual review summary of “total compensation.” I think the pricing transparency that ACA is bringing is very beneficial. Many people have no idea of the costs. I think the costs on the exchanges (with no subsidy) are a shock to many.</p>
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<p>$8148 is less than we’ve been paying, and we don’t even have access to those fancy providers that you prefer. You were getting more value than most. You just didn’t know it. </p>
<p>As for the newly-insured sick, I imagine they’re not losing sleep over “narrow networks.” My guess is that they’re overjoyed to be able to see ANY doctor without having to go to the ER.</p>
<p>^^ I have been seeing the total compensation reports for over 10 years from my employer. That is how they justified each year not giving a pay raise. The insurance guys are stealing the raise we planned to give you. :p</p>
<p>I don’t generally like to talk about “what ifs” until they happen, but in this case since its medical care we are talking about, there must be a cushion or contingency plan.</p>
<p>Does anyone know what will happen if a majority of the expected 7 million of the total 30 million uninsured either don’t or cannot sign up by December 31? What if most of them that do, are the sickest, as would be expected? Will the insurance companies be able to raise dstark’s exchange premium to say, $2,000 per month, mid-year? Or will something worse happen, like the insurance companies fold or pull out/drop coverage completely? Can they do that?</p>
<p>LasMa, if you had a PPO Blue Shield or Anthem plan, you had access to the same providers I did.</p>