Have your health care premiums and copays increased this year?

[righteousdude2]

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2016/11/01/Here-s-How-Much-Obamacare-Premiums-Are-Rising-All-50-States

I received the bad news several weeks ago. While my premiums, all of which are paid by my employer, are not increasing ... my copays have increased by 100%. Now that may not be bad for those of you who work, but being on social security, with a meager 0.3% increase, makes going to doctor appointments and refilling prescriptions real difficult. In a two-words, it sucks! It means I am now going to be pressured into making choices about getting by on less for food, clothing, using less utilities, and even cutting back on prescriptions I need to take just to make ends meet.

So, have the increases in being discussed in the media, come back to hurt you and your family?

 

[exscentric]

One of my insulin prescriptions copay tripled (up to over 500) in price so will be doing something else, haven't heard on our supplemental plan yet.

 

[DMorgan]

Yes. My company plan is going up. An extra 40.00 per check(bi-weekly). Copays up, Max out of pocket up, just about everything increased.

 

[annsni]

We've never had to pay for our health insurance since it was always covered by the company but this year is the first time that is not the case. We pitch in now with part of the monthly payment. In addition, the insurance company decided that the migraine med that works great for me is too expensive and I can take the medicine that literally has me in bed for 24 hours. I now pay the $40 a pill out of pocket. We are also EXTREMELY limited in our doctors and hospitals now as well.

 

[Deacon]

For the last two years my company offered an HSA high deductible plan that lowered the initial cost of insurance but made you pay for the first $6K of most medical services. We won't know til March but there have been memos warning us that costs have risen so much this year that our company may have to drastically change how they provide coverage for us.

Rob

 

[annsni]

For the last two years my company offered an HSA high deductible plan that lowered the initial cost of insurance but made you pay for the first $6K of most medical services. We won't know til March but there have been memos warning us that costs have risen so much this year that our company may have to drastically change how they provide coverage for us.

Rob

We had that kind of insurance when my daughter was critically ill with a pancreatic tumor and let me tell you - it was a nightmare to manage!!! The church put the $6,000 into an HSA but broken up into monthly payments an so we would have $500 each month deposited into the account. Our "year" starts on March 1 and my daughter got sick April 8. Trying to balance paying off each doctor/hospital/lab/anyoneelsewhocameintotheroom with the $500 each month was a bookkeeping nightmare AND then there were bills that came to us before they were finished at the insurance and so there would end up being 2 different amounts of a bill and OH MY GOSH!! I'd say I worked about 20 hours a week at one point to manage it all. It was RIDICULOUS! So this time around we were given the option again - high deductible with the church depositing the deductible into the HSA or a co-pay based plan. We went for the co-pay based plan for my sanity.

 

[Revmitchell]

Nope can't afford insurance.

 

[Salty]

Nope can't afford insurance.

So you will be paying the penalty "TAX"

 

[annsni]

Nope can't afford insurance.

Have you looked into the Christian medical share programs? They do count as health care for Obamacare.

 

[Revmitchell]

Have you looked into the Christian medical share programs? They do count as health care for Obamacare.

Yes we have, that is most likely the direction we will go but with my herniated disks in lower back and neck and my wife's mastectomy's those issues will not be covered for three years.