Oops, I misspoke. That should have been $1,330 for the FOUR of us! Oldest son is on Medicaid because of his severe mental illness.
Our ACA costs went down and we had more choices/more insurers than we did in 2019. It definitely can vary by state to state, county to county.
$1330 to $1400, although definitely a lot of money, isn’t really that “high” these days. Most people’s coverage costs that or more, just many don’t see the true cost because their employers are covering the majority of it. That said, it is an issue that needs attention in this country. Costs were rising well before ACA came into the picture.
$1300 for four people per month sounds like a bargain. My kids each pay $370 a month…for very high deductible plans.
Like I said, it would have been $2000/month for the four of us if DH weren’t on Medicare.
Last year with 2 of us on a catastrophic plan, we paid almost $1700. This year, until I’m eligible for Medicare, my premium alone for the least expensive plan with a high deductible (but not HSA eligible) is $947. Glad I’ll be on Medicare soon.
Premiums run very high for older people – I think mine (on paper) for an HSA-eligible Bronze PPO plan was around $1200/month when I was age 64. I just checked and the same plan would now be $1270 - lowest cost HMO would be $970 – and the second lowest Silver (which sets Benchmark for subsidies) is $1540. (But there is a lower silver HMO with Kaiser for $1215).
Subsidy eligibility turns the whole thing on its head – assuming a $45K net income, if I were on the individual market now I would be paying $80/month for the plan I had (about half the base monthly Part B Medicare premium) – and there would be multiple lower cost Bronze options at $1/month - the lowest cost Silver would be $27/month – and that benchmark Silver would be a little over $350/month. (which is closer to what I actually pay these days for Medicare Part B + Supplement + drug plan.-- but of course with the Medicare supplement I don’t have any deductible or copays). So basically when the cost for the benchmark Silver goes up, so does the subsidy amount, and that subsidy can be applied anywhere.
I think the problem now with ACA is that there needs to be a longer tail on the subsidies, rather than an abrupt cutoff at the 400%/poverty level. I used to be in a somewhat odd position because I qualified for the subsidy only if I maintained and fully funded my HSA – otherwise, the loss of the HSA deduction would have pushed my AGI up into the territory where the subsidy cut off. (Of course, if I factored in the money I was putting into the HSA, that’s an extra $380/month – but that was money sitting in a bank account that I owned, not money going to an insurance company).
Some states have started subsidizing plans. My friend here in Colorado said her plan (individual as son is on medicaid and husband on medicare) went down $100/mo. I then saw on the news that something like 15 states have started on a new program and premiums went down about 20%.
There are many articles out there explaining that ACA rates are dropping in 38states. Here’s one and some highlights:
"The average premium for the benchmark plan will drop by 4% next year in the 38 states using the federal Obamacare exchanges – the second year in a row of lower rates. Six states that use healthcare.gov are seeing double-digit declines, though three are seeing double-digit increases
The Trump administration has approved requests by 12 states to create reinsurance programs, which shield carriers from high-cost patients and help reduce premiums. Officials pointed to this and other measures the administration has taken that have stabilized the individual market.
" insurers have raised rates high enough in recent years to make selling plans on the exchanges a profitable businesses…prompting carriers to re-enter markets they had abandoned in recent years"
“Twenty more insurers are joining the federal exchanges, bringing the total to 175 for 2020, up from a low of 132 in 2018. The number of states with only one carrier is dropping to two, down from five this year.”
“Affordable Care Act supporters blasted the administration for trying to take credit for the market’s stabilization, noting Trump officials cut the open enrollment period in half and slashed funding for advertising and assistance.”
Read on for more interesting tidbits. I know I had more options this year and had a small drop in rates.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/22/politics/obamacare-enrollment-2020/index.html
Well, I will be shocked if I ever see a decline. I will post here if I do! But I expect to be posting about increases every year.