I work for one of the 100 largest companies in the world and my insurance premiums just went up....

[LexVegas]

Is that Obama's fault too?

[Chico Man]

1. Same here

My contribution and the deductible both increased significantly. I lowered the level of my plan to keep things even (took a greater risk).

[VMA131Marine]

2. Me too, and so did mine.

People forget how fast premiums were rising before Obamacare was passed.

[tonyt53]

5. Thank you for pointing this fact out. People fail to recognize this.

[CentralMass]

9. This is part of the problem though..ACA was advertised that it would lower costs.

I can recall a statement from President Obama the the typical family would save $2500/yr.o

My experience with my company subsidized HMO back in MA during the decade + that we had RomneyCare (the prototype for ACA) was that I saw double digit premium increases each year, and the funding for the public plan ran significanty over the forecasted budget and premiums under the plan saw similar double digit increases.

It seemed clear then and now that neither MA's version or the ACA addresses the rising costs of medical care.

This is a boat anchor and arguably sucked most of the oxygen out of the room and spent a lot of political capital when it came to getting other things done

[DeltaLitProf]

32. It doesn't help that the GOP House blocks funds to reimburse insurance companies for . . .

. . . the early costs of covering people's pre-existing conditions. The NY Times buried it pretty deep in the story on Trump's criticism of the ACA today. But it plays a huge role in insurance companies leaving state exchanges.

[CentralMass]

33. The ACA doesn't adequately address the cost of medical care.

You can put lipstick on a pig but it is still a pig.

[oasis]

3. Costs going up on everything. Fact of life.

wake up and smell the coffee America.

[tavernier]

14. Except my SS payments

Their explanation is that suddenly the world is a cheaper place to live in.

[bluedigger]

4. Let's stay focused on the important things: How's their stock doing?

And do they have sufficient cash reserves on hand?

[global1]

6. Why Doesn't The MSM Put The Blame Where It Belongs?.....

On the non-participating Repug governors and the insurance companies that want to go backwards to pre-ACA type insurance.

[ooky]

15. And the obstructionist GOP Congress

that is doing everything they can to make the ACA not work while millions continue to suffer, so they can save the insurance industry from single payer insurance and preserving the industry's record profiteering.

[JoePhilly]

31. That would require analysis past the 2nd grade level.

And math is hard.

[nolabels]

8. It wouldn't be as big of an issue if our health and the service was somewhat better

Yet mostly what i see is it all seems to get worse. The price of prescription drugs and how often the doctors seem to want to prescribe them to the red tape and misdiagnosis of illness and treatment. Today's medical establishment is a joke in itself.

My medical insurance has been free from my employer for the last few years with only small copays but mostly i like to stay away from medical doctors when possible. Most of the time one can study up more through the internet about one's particular issue or problem then they have any knowledge about anyway.

Figure out how to stay healthy (if possible) and keep the ball out of their court

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. I agree that our health care system needs a lot of improvement, but

you should absolutely NOT try to self-diagnose and treat any health problem on the basis of what you read on the Internet! There are any number of quacks, charlatans, promoters of woo and just plain idiots who are unloading all manner of ignorant crap on the web, and without some specialized knowledge and training you have no way to figure out what's useful information and what's nonsense.

I don't like visiting doctors either, but if I'm sick I'll get help from somebody who knows what they're doing, not some rando on the Internet.

[nolabels]

19. As a mechanic i would say you shouldn't try to fix your car yourself

But then again, i would say more power to you, just don't hurt yourself or anyone else. The best keeper of the property is the one living on it (or in it). When i don't know what is happening or too acute or beyond my means then i do the doctor thing. It's not a big leap in faith to understand that most general practitioners see thousands of patients a year. From that that idea you can deduce that your visit might be a crap shoot if the symptoms are anywhere strange or exotic. They are busy folks and often their minds are too full to want to take up information they are not familiar with. They are human just like the rest of us

It's not really the doctors themselves though, mostly they are well intended. It's the way the system is a setup to make you subservient to it. To that, it almost always makes it at least only my second option (if not later).

My last doctor visit of importance was to a orthopedic surgeon (probably wouldn't have let him touch me with a knife, way too young and green). I needed to see what was wrong with my knee. I figured it was arthritis but needed to make sure. Thought maybe i could just see him to figure it out but had to come back for a second appointment after he prescribed for x rays. Then it was easy, even i could have seen it. The cartridge was worn out in one spot and the bones could rub there. I already had a knee brace i was using (prescribed by myself) but since have found a better one and in the last year it's getting good enough so i hardly need it. I have various other thing that also help and i never touch any kind or aspirin or any other painkiller if i can help it. It's working

[JNelson6563]

12. We need more unions!

I am in a union and I pay $11 a week for my son and I to have very good health coverage plus dental and vision is included with that. My employer pays about 90% of my premium.

Everyone should have this.

[TheDebbieDee]

13. When Obamacare was passed, everyone knew

That the program would need to be tweeked as problems arose. But Dems lost control of Congress and the republicans became obsessed with trying to repeal Obamacare instead of "fixing" it!

[BSdetect]

16. When will msnbc mewntion this?

They keep saying that premiums are going up but I've only seen one explanation - its the target level expected by 2017.

So of course msnbc keeps suggesting that drumph can catch up by hammering this "news".

They constantly ask are the Dems worried etc

[femmocrat]

17. Mine is offered through my state retirement system.... and it went up.

Everything goes up. Nothing ever goes down.

I did hear someone on MSNBC say that when the Obamacare premiums go up, so does the subsidy. Not sure about the details, just passing that along.

[Orsino]

18. As far as many/most voters are concerned, that's a yes or a maybe.

The GOP wouldn't permit direct price controls, and this is part of the reason why.

[CajunBlazer]

20. I work for one of the 10 biggest companies in the country and .....

... one of the biggest in world and our insurance for next year went up substantially and coverage has gotten worse.

[jcgoldie]

21. Thanks Obama!

[Demsrule86]

22. My inurance went up too... work insurance.

ACA has reduced costs. Would be going up way more without it.

[B2G]

23. Went up how much?

Flat amount and percentage please.

[wishstar]

26. My federal retiree Blue Cross has gone up every year too, and COLA's too small to cover the raise

But I can't complain as I'm grateful to just have the coverage.

I know several people who signed up for Obamacare Blue Cross, got subsidies so their premiums were a lot lower than mine, and then they proceeded to have expensive surgeries and hospitalizations for serious conditions that they had postponed getting treatment for until they could get on Obamacare.

One acquaintance then dropped his coverage after getting Blue Cross to cover tens of thousands of dollars of expensive procedures since he thinks he is much better and can go a year or two longer and is taking his chances again before signing back up. So it is no wonder the insurances aren't doing as well as expected and raising premiums when so many people have had huge medical bills in the first year or two of ACA..

[dlwickham]

27. if it happened before July then yes but everything after that is now Hillary's fault