Has anyone ever heard of a $39,000.00 per year health insurance premium ???

[SamKnause]

Senator, Bill Cassidy from Louisiana stated this at the Tom Price hearing.

He said he knew a couple whose premium was $39,000.00 per year with

a $6,000.00 deductible.

He said he posted it on his facebook page.

[Thinkingabout]

1. He may believe everything FOX says, he apparently believes everything on FB, now if he really

looked he could probably find the truth. It was probably posted by one of his RW informed friends, needs new friends.

[SamKnause]

3. He said he posted about it on his facebook page to verify it was true.

He said people thought he was lying so he posted the facts on facebook.

I think he is lying.

[Thinkingabout]

11. It would be nice to see the link I guess, still do not think this is a true story.

[SamKnause]

16. I don't have a link.

He said it at today's hearing.

I don't have a facebook account or I would try to find the

post he was talking about.

I don't think it is true either.

[Achilleaze]

2. Fake News (R)

Show us Comrade Casino's stinking tax returns.

Ooops, I mean show us the stinking evidence that some stinking anonymous person in some stinking anonymous place somewhere is claiming to the stinking right-wing fake-news propaganda echo chamber.

[Bengus81]

4. FAKE NEWS......n/t

[still_one]

5. I need details. It definitely would be the exception if it was valid

[underpants]

6. No. I dealt with policies (pharma) in my last job for 4 years

That's $3,300 a month. If they chose some whacked out plan like that....no let me stop - no this is extremely unlikely.

$6,000 deductible? Possibly. I ran into one policy specific to Miami-Dade county with a $10K deductible but that was way outside of the norm. Very odd.

[sarcasmo]

10. Seems crazy high, we make decent money and in no way could afford that policy.

[politicat]

7. ... It's vaguely possible, if multiple conditions are met

1) they have completely separate plans, not a family plan (because family plans have shared deductibles.)
2) Both Plans are platinum plus level care, with essentially no out of network at all and the widest possible in-network.
3) Neither plan has any type of gate-keeping, such as PCP referral requirements.
4) both may be well above 55 and below 65 and have an income that puts them well above exchange pricing.

That's a $1600 per month, per person plan. It indicates a really stupid person and a rapacious broker if they were willing to sign up for that, because for half the monthly cost, they could have a very good gold plan with a very low deductible for both.

A family of 6 -- two adults, four children -- totally self-employed, on a Gold plan, might have a monthly premium in the $2-3K range. Which is still cheaper than paying out of pocket for two broken arms, three ear infections, an adult kidney infection and an ovarian cyst removal, which is approximately the average annual usage of 6 regularly healthy, generally active people.

[matt819]

14. Excellent points

Another possibility is that he was looking not only at the premium but at the possible estimated annual outlay based on previous years healthcare expenses.

And another possibility is that he is looking at a plan that is not under the ACA but rather a private plan with a health insurance provider. In that case, absolutely, the premium could be more than $3000 a month.

I have a silver plan via the marketplace, also with a $6000 deductible, two people over 60, and my premium is about $1400 a month. Even had we opted for one of the better plans, I don't think we could have gotten the premium at more than $3000 a month, and if that was the case, the deductible would certainly not be $6000.

There is something wrong with this information

[rickford66]

8. When I got laid off before the ACA my COBRA would have been 2K/month

I didn't even ask about the deductible. By luck I turned 65 that month and immediately was on Medicare. I don't believe this post ACA BS.

[hunter]

20. Yeah, our COBRA sucked. We ran it all the way to the end.

My wife, who was ill at the time, then went on a waiting list for our state's high risk plan. It was terrifying.

Under the old rules my wife and I are uninsurable because of preexisting conditions.

I also knew people who felt trapped in bad jobs because they, or someone in their family, had preexisting conditions and were afraid of losing their insurance.

[doc03]

29. I paid $850 a month for COBRA for just myself for about 6 months

and it never paid a penny on claims because I never met my deductible.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

9. Maybe?

Health care costs per capita in this country is over $10,000/year according to PBS:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/new-peak-us-health-care-spending-10345-per-person/

A family plan for an older couple? Maybe it would be that insane.

I'm waaaaay below average for annual healthcare costs. It won't be that way forever, I'm sure.

Part of the high costs is greed. Another part is our large number of aging baby boomers. It was sure to happen eventually.

[Princess Turandot]

12. How many insured kids do they have?

That might be one reason. Otherwise, the amount is much higher than it would cost to insure 2 adults via the marketplace here in NYC, where the cost of medical care is among the highest in the country.

The other thing though is that if they didn't have insurance before this, I have a hard time believing that such a large premium would be affordable for them. So they likely would have received a high offset from the government. (If it's true.)

[SamKnause]

13. Married, 2 adults, 61 years of age.

I don't believe Cassidy.

Cassidy said he posted proof on his facebook page.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

15. I just looked at his Facebook video under magnification.

Details from the supposed insurance quote (paper)...

The plan was listed as "Blue Saver 100/80 $3100"
Monthly Premium: $3319.85 (over $1800 for the subscriber and over $1500 for the spouse)
Deductible: $6200
Out of pocket max: $13,100
PCP Office Visit: 0% Coinsurance after deductible

Also, exchange type? I'm not sure what it means, but it looks like "NGF" is highlighted? I'm not sure what that means.

[SamKnause]

18. Thanks so much for the info.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

19. Here's the plan details...

http://www.bcbsla.com/web/applications/sbcportal/sbcs/2017/97176LA0350003-01.pdf

Nothing "stood out" to me about the insurance being particularly good, but maybe someone who works in that field would spot something.

The ACA should cover part of those expenses, right?

[politicat]

21. No co-pays for most in-network after deductible.

That is pretty rare, actually. (We've had multiple gold+ level plans through employers, through all four major providers, and have never had a zero co-pay after deductible plan.)

Blue Saver is also an HSA plan, so the monthly premium may include the required HSA contribution. The HSA has the advantage of being a form of tax shelter; the WSJ calls it a "shadow IRA".

The basic purpose of an HSA is to salt away pretax income to cover medical expenses not covered by health insurance. But those who generously fund their HSA may find some or all of those dollars can grow in a tax-deferred investment account for many years. Along the way, the money can be used tax-free to pay medical expenses or premiums on long-term-care insurance. After age 65, there's no penalty for withdrawing money for nonmedical use; the money will be taxable, but will still have benefited from years or decades of tax deferral.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/health-savings-accounts-can-double-as-shadow-iras-1401481345

[Buckeye_Democrat]

23. Thanks! n/t

[linuxman]

17. I know one person who's paying 2600 monthly.

Not sure what his deductable is, but for 31K a year, they'd better be paying HIM for doctors visits.

My wife and I are ~200 per month.

[politicat]

22. It's an HSA plan - aka tax shelter.

I posted down below why someone would want to highly fund an HSA.

[Uben]

24. I was paying $30K/yr 6 years ago

with a $5K deductible, so it sounds totally feasible. If a member of your family has cancer, they keep raising the price every year. The insurance companies are the big problem in healthcare, right along with big pharma and their price gouging. Everyone wants to be a gazillionaire...NOW! No matter that the costs fall on those who can least afford it.

[Ms. Toad]

26. Is it a couple with children,

with both adults (and maybe an adult child) who are smokers? whose income is high enough that they don't qualify for Medicaid - and whose state rejected Medicaid expansion?

Just listing a policy premium, without other details, is pretty much meaningless.

I think without the work subsidy, our family (for 3) would be in that ballpark. We've got a work-based subsidy and I recall being surprised at how expensive it would have been without that subsidy.

[dubyadiprecession]

27. There's nothing like Insurance companies (middlemen) helping average folks out...

with their healthcare!

[doc03]

28. I remember before Obamacare a friend of mine with diabetes

said all he could find was insurance for $26000 a year. He had lost his job and was trying to start a business
so he took a chance and ended up having a heart attack and bypass surgery. He ended up filing bankruptcy.

[MiniMe]

30. I'm paying $1,100/month as of January

With a $1,500 deductible

[pnwmom]

31. That's conceivable in policies OFF the exchange which are still available

to anyone who wants them.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

32. It's possible

I have a plan through my employer (federal government) that is almost $24,000 per year, when you count their contributions and mine. That's for me plus family (my daughters), but it only has a $350/person $700/family deductible, with a max $10,000 out of pocket annually.