Many people won’t be paying a 25% as they’ll be covered by subsidy increases.
As far as longer term retirement plans, I predict the health insurance landscape out more than a few years could look very different than it does now.
For a family member, virtually all of the co-workers in his group were over 50. The company decided to eliminate 2 positions so the company was covered since there was nobody under 50 to lay off. He had survived several rounds of layoffs and was able to get a new job, but at a reduced salary and with much less generous health benefits (although those might have changed at old company too).
As mom2collegekids states, most US workers do not end up choosing their own retirement date, but are let go or essentially pushed out before they would have chosen to retire. Some, unfortunately, end up with health problems but others get caught up in layoffs, company closings or sales, or other factors.
I think the insurance companies are using the Affordable Care Act as a smoke screen as a reason to ask for huge raises across the board. I think they are doing it very effectively. There are not that many people using the insurance (11 million or so) and there are more younger people enrolling (4 million or so).
Its too tied to politics for it to ever be successful.
Its a shame. It is one of the few programs that directly helped my family by allowing my preexisting health problem kid to get insurance
We are 60, mostly retired and get health insurance through H’s company. I worry that will disappear or become financially prohibitive before we hit 65.
Sadly everyone is in this health care limbo. Seems like the entire system has to explode before it can get fixed.
Even before ACA started my healthcare costs, through my employer at the time, were going up way more than inflation. The healthcare landscape was changing back than as well with more PPOs, a push toward high deductible programs, more use of NPs and PAs for primary care. IMO, these changes didn’t start with ACA, they were already happening.
My healthcare costs are going up this year because our family situation is different from last year but I’m still paying less than I did before ACA. However, if I had the same family situation in for 2017, ACA is only a few percent higher in my area for the coming year, less than the annual increases I’d seen even with my previous employer subsidized healthcare.
True, but:
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We will almost certainly never be eligible for any kind of subsidy, so that doesn’t really help us any
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Some states are seeing much higher increases, Arizona for example may see 100% increases
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As a taxpayer I am paying these subsidies, a 25% increase is crazy
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25% per year, if these kind of increases keep up, means prices double in three years. It’s great for the insurance companies, I guess, to be receiving an extra $8.5bil from gov’t subsidies next year, but at some point the cost becomes a real hardship for people not eligible for subsidies. And that’s assuming the contraction of insurers even provides policy availability.
It’s worrisome and alarming.
We’re not allowed to speak of politics, but can we speak of anti-trust?
My own opinion is that insurance providers are “strategically” pricing ACA policies.
Single-payer is the only reasonable solution.
I better not go any further because of CC’s terms of service.
@sax You are too optimistic. The entire finacial system exploded and nothing got fixed. Would the health care any different?
" 3) As a taxpayer I am paying these subsidies, a 25% increase is crazy
- 25% per year, if these kind of increases keep up, means prices double in three years. It’s great for the insurance companies, I guess, to be receiving an extra $8.5bil from gov’t subsidies next year, but at some point the cost becomes a real hardship for people not eligible for subsidies. And that’s assuming the contraction of insurers even provides policy availability."
Yes, I am confused when I hear on the news that it won’t cost anything more if you get a subsidy. The price goes up, and somebody is paying for it. It may not be you, but that doesn’t mean it’s just free. It does matter.
We should be careful not to get this thread closed. It is difficult not to stray into politics when discussing healthcare and similar topics. I caught myself, ready to express my thoughts, but I held back. Since it’s such a large component of retirement expense and anxiety, it’s understandable.
I th know we are all worried about healthcare, and Medicare.
Yes, healthcare looms large for many of us, especially if we have chronic health issues and as we age we are likely to have increasing health issues. My folks who have been healthy all their lives are now seeing the docs more often and even taking some maintenance medications for the first times in their lives!
And you many times don’t know that you have a chronic health issue until you do. They can pop up in perfectly healthy folks who have done everything right.
Yes–all 4 of us in my nuclear family have had that. We were perfectly healthy until suddenly we all were diagnosed with chronic health issues. It can easily take folks totally by surprise and cost a ton of money figuring out what’s going on and how to treat.
We have traveled to get the medical care we need, repeatedly. Such travel is not covered under most insurance and is an added cost but necessary when local options don’t meet your needs. To the extent your medical expenses exceed 10% of your income, you can deduct if you itemize. We have deducted in several years.
Just had to share my “funny” thought with you guys. My son who graduated in May finally decided to look for a job, and looks like he got one today.
I’m all “excited” because he (I) can contribute tax free (or close to it ) to his ROTH IRA to match his earnings this year.
I refused to pay much towards his expenses while he was not seeking employment, but I will happy help him build his retirement savings.
Congrats on your son’s job offer, @1214mom. I’m right there with you on helping fund the kids’ Roth IRAs. That is part of their Christmas gifts from us each year.
Thanks @doschicos. I caught on a little late, but last year I funded sons to the amount they made, and this year I will be doing the same. I will give him my standard lecture again, which is to contribute at least to the amount of any employee matching, and I will “subsidize” his contributions if necessary by doing things like telling him I will pay the cell phone bill/insurance if he puts that amount of money in retirement.
That’s great about your son, @1214mom! I feel your pain, it is stressful while your kid is looking for a job. My son also graduated in May, finished an intensive web development program about a month ago, and is still looking for a job. I had this vision of him getting ten job offers within a week of graduation, because it’s a really good program, and they have tens of thousands of job postings for software engineers in NYC. But it’s a lot slower going than I’d expected, and I have nightmares about it being a year later…with no job in sight.
So I am happy for you and your son, there is hope!
@1214mom , congratulations.
I know internships are different from jobs, but there is a lot of gamesmanship going on out there, based on my small sample size. Exploding offers, Tufts Syndrome, inconvenient interview times across the country, etc.
Woo hoo, @1214mom.!