Fucking health insurance premiums increased 25%.

[LuckyCharms]

The plan is on a fiscal year...April to May. So it is open enrollment.

25%.

Christ.

[spanone]

1. where's that beautiful healthcare that trump promised?

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/trump-obamacare-promises-236021

[LuckyCharms]

3. Yes, I'm sitting here seething about that. Also, he took away the mandate...

which is causing more risk for insurance companies, which is causing higher premiums.

[spanone]

5. you have to wonder about his base. are they still blaming this on Obama?

probably

[LuckyCharms]

7. Oh yes they are. That's Trump's spin, and logical people know that it is not

Obama's fault. They will be blaming any increase in medical related costs on Obama for the next 20 years. So discouraging.

[Skittles]

2. didn't your paycheck go up 25% from the tax scam, LuckyCharms?

TELL ME!

[LuckyCharms]

4. Not even close!

[Flaleftist]

6. Impossible! Everyones insurance is supposed to be better and cheaper. Trump promised.

[LuckyCharms]

8. Oh yeah. I forgot to say...

that not only are the premiums going up 25%, but the co-pays are higher, the deductable is higher, and the maximum yearly out of pocket is higher.

[DFW]

9. My last quote where I live was $36,000 per year in premiums (I declined).

$3000 a month, who do these people think I am, some Koch brother's long lost nephew?

[LuckyCharms]

13. Holy cow...

These amounts not sustainable! I'd have to run the numbers, but the last time I looked at this, my premium costs and actual health care costs were pushing 35% of my income, if I remember correctly.

[LuckyCharms]

14. DFW, are you going without insurance?

[DFW]

15. I told the locals where they could shove their $36,000 per year premium

And so I retain the lousy Blue Cross from my employer back home, who declines every claim I send them.

You wouldn't believe the number of posts I see on DU claiming the place where I live is a paradise where everything is "free."

[LuckyCharms]

16. I hear you.

A lot of these policies are essentially "non-policies" because they never pay anything, or they make it so difficult, people give up pursuing payment.

A sincere wish for your good health.

[DFW]

20. Thanks, I'll need it!!

My wife is a citizen here, so she is covered. I'm a "furriner" with a foreign employer, so I am restricted to paying 50% income taxes (best case scenario) and get no pension and no health insurance. Good thing I live near an airport!

[hunter]

25. It might be easier and cost less to fly to India for medical care...

... than trust a U.S. health insurance provider to do the right thing.

[Civic Justice]

10. IF ... we still had Industry and UNIONS...

with the 10's of millions of Union Workers who had "INSURANCE"... the rates would still be low...

American people are the ones who attacked Unions... when we became a society to "worship" the University Degree, and that happened right after the Reagan Era which insured only the well to do could get the degree in mass volume... by his act to defund State Universities and Community Colleges. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ684842.pdf

When the "elites from the elite Universities" gained position in companies, they "detested union workers" and they duped many American's to become "Anti-Union".... (They think they are smarter than they actually are, we've seen nothing but a steady decline of American Industry from the minute it started promoting Degree Riders as being more important than the general working labor people ) then, to back it with full fleecing, the people were fed the "fiction" that Union Wages were too high, and claimed we could not compete.... and at the same time corporate degree riders wages went through the roof).
How absurd was that, when we the America People, were "buying" the things that Union Labor Produced....

( When fact is: Union Wages is what built Middle Class, and Unions Wages is what supported the American Standard of Living and within that standard, people had job sponsored and paid health care...


Now, we buy foreign made goods that is produced by slave wage labor people in foreign lands... we no longer have the volume of "union people" who were once covered with Union supported Medical Coverage in their agreement, which means, Insurance Companies did not have to raise rates, because they had enough paying customers via the Work provided Insurance... and not only did rates stay low... Medical services remained low... because there were enough people using services, that the medical system made profits and the insurance companies too... and American people had coverage that actually helped them.

[Ohiogal]

11. Sheer insanity!

It's enough to make you seriously consider moving out of the country.

[LuckyCharms]

12. If I could, I would!

Oh man, what I would give for universal health care.

[DFW]

21. Don't move here !! No universal heath care coverage in this country.

Especially if you have pre-existing conditions and no local employer.

In my case, your yearly premium would amount to at least $36,750, and that quote is from 2011. Maybe double by now?

[Civic Justice]

17. Unless you can go to a country that WAS NOT groomed on Racism...

..... one won't find anything different.

In countries that does not attack their society based on historical racism, they not only provide health care, but many have better education system and their jobs pay people a wage that meets the standard of living. i.e. Norway, Sweden and etc.

America can't get past its own racist history and the policies that it invoked to support racism, REVERBERATES in everything in America, especially in anything that provides a service to the people.

The system knows that if it can make the cost high, it can constructively omit, minorities, and working poor and poor whites simply are collateral damage, because they can be used to try and blame it on minorities, when truth is.. its the wealthy system controllers, who have the Conservative Mentality.. to want things to be like they were, before minorities could participate in America..... But... the game is, to push divide among the people, to keep the people from seeing and knowing, that it has always been the "industrialist against the people, and it has always been the wealthy industrialist who have been collusive against the people.

Until America faces the facts..and truth... and get racist ignorance out of this system... it will continue to damage people, and that damage will include damage to working poor whites as well as it will be damage to minorities and women.

That's the truths people don't want to face up to.... working poor whites and poor whites to the wealthy industrialist are considered as "expendable and replaceable"... and they are to them, only useful... to sow discontent, while supporting any act of malice and aggression by any form upon and against minorities. But the same thing is the working poor whites never figured it out, that everything they support doing to minorities and women, is equally so done to them.. because they sanctioned it being done.

[Civic Justice]

28. People keep dealing with the symptom's and never addressing the core of the problem

It won't change until the people "open their eyes" and look at the root of "why" and "how" this was done to the American people.

Deny all one desires, and denial has never solved anything, nor will it allow some to open their mind to see beyond the symptoms.

[VOX]

18. If I were 10 years younger and a lot richer, I'd be outta here like a jackrabbit.

My wife and I considered moving to Australia or New Zealand back during the Bush II administration. Man, do I ever wish now that we'd gone then.

I'm retired now, and unless you have a significant amount of money to invest in those countries' governments, forget it.

[MANative]

19. Our company provider warned us that we'd see increases about 15% or better

But when the figures came in for open enrollment (June 1 effective date), they were at about 6.5%, so I'm not sure what happened. I've heard from other HR colleagues that they are seeing big increases, but ours was well within what we budgeted. Have no idea what might have helped, other than fairly low claims experience this year. Pleasantly surprised, but I certainly don't credit the tRumpsters.

[democratisphere]

22. The American Criminal Enterprise Healthcare System is no longer viable.

Got to get wall street and the wealthiest out of the healthcare system.

[Ron Obvious]

23. We've had increases like that every year for the past 8 or so.

So nothing new there.

[sarah FAILIN]

24. 20% increase for me

For us, it is due to very heavy opioid use according to the insurance company by our employees. We don't know, since we don't know when people get pain killers or for what, so they can tell us anything and we have to believe it. I've heard that getting 2 prescriptions a year is considered excessive. I never take prescription meds, but I know a lot of people that do for real problems. Bummer.

[progree]

26. Is it an ACA plan? I thought all ACA plans' open enrollment was Nov 1 to Dec 15

The plan is on a fiscal year...April to May. So it is open enrollment.

And the media constantly yammers endlessly about how, if you are eligible for subsidies (less than 400% of poverty), the subsidy rises with the premium, so that the premium after the subsidy stays the same. And because of some fluke, the net premium after subsidy has gone down from last year.

And yet here on DU, seems like everybody with an ACA plan is saying that ain't so.

Sorry, just curious. I'm trying to understand this stuff (I left the ACA for Medicare a little over a year ago, so I'm kind of out of the loop as far as ACA in the Trump era, thankfully)

[dflprincess]

29. If it's through an employer the open enrollment period can be any time based on the renewal date.

The two biggest dates for renewal are January 1 and July 1 but there are renewals and so open enrollment periods throughout the year.

[LuckyCharms]

30. No, it is a non-ACA plan through employer.

Plan renewal is based on employer's fiscal year.

[saidsimplesimon]

27. You are not alone.

My plan copays increased from 100-300% for medical treatment and medications. That's with Medicare under a major private provider. My fixed retirement income can not keep up with the increased costs for everything essential.

I am so grateful that I have no serious medical conditions.

[marlakay]

31. Premiums didnt go up but

They just denied a claim then said you weren’t suppose to get it at all and are going back and charging me for last 3 months of appts! Gee thanks Blue Cross.

Needless to say me and doctor filing appeal, for all the good that will do.

I got pissed, if it wasn’t covered why did you pay for it to begin with? I would have found someone else that was.

[LuckyCharms]

32. Insurance companies in general do that all the time, and

it is more than infuriating. They use a seperate company to research the "necessity" of claims, and also to find reasons to deny pre-authorizations.

I feel sorry for the doctors. They have to hire people to do the dance with these insurance companies.

Also, I've been getting calls from nurses working for the insurance companies who want to discuss "ways I can improve my health". I tell them I have doctors for that, then they give me some scripted shit, then I slam the phone down on them.

I just read your last sentence again...are they saying that you need to reimburse them for something they already paid. If so, tell them to fuck off.

[Habibi]

35. I've been getting those calls too.

Some third-party "care management" company. The first nurse-agent called me repeatedly, wanting me to sign on for vague "services." She called while I was in the hospital for cancer surgery. Obviously I wasn't going to call her back at that point. She called again, and when I didn't return her phone call, she sent somebody to my home, the day after I got out of the hospital!

I called the insurance provider and complained. I was told that lady would never contact me again, and nobody would ever come to my home again. Guess what? The very next day a different nurse-agent called me with the same line of BS.

[LuckyCharms]

38. Unreal.

I'm sorry that you had to go through that...especially at a stressful time.

My best wishes to you.

[marlakay]

36. Yes they paid for my claims

Now are saying its not covered and going back and asking for money back.

[LuckyCharms]

39. Don't follow this advice please...

But if this happened to me, I would laugh at them, seriously tell them to fuck off, and tell them you consider the matter closed. Then I would tell them that any communication on the matter should be in writing, to your lawyer.

Don't do what I would do though...I'm always going ballistic on these people.

PS...is it a ton of money?

[marlakay]

40. $630

So not a ton but its still a lot to me, we are retired. I am early 60’s so no medicare yet.

My husband wants to go ballistic but I won’t let him fearing they will screw with other claims.

[Bradshaw3]

33. Went to the doctor today after being told two days ago I would owe nothing

Then found out I owe $100. I could go on as I'm sure most everyone on here can with horror stories about our "healthcare system".

What it is really is a Frankenstein of a system that needs to be completely redone - best case scenario take the fucking profit motive out of it. In lieu of that look to Europe or any developed country other than our own. It is the worst, period.

[area51]

34. Single-payer/enhanced Medicare for All

right f-ing now.

[Luciferous]

37. Ouch. Ours went up too- so with the Trump tax cut and an annual raise, we are right back

where we started!

[onecent]

41. THANKS TRUMP YOU DICK!