Health Insurance Prices Up 7.5 Percent For Benchmark Plans

[Purveyor]

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

The federal government says the cost of a benchmark plan on HealthCare.gov will increase 7.5 percent for 2016 coverage, but most people will still be able to buy a plan for less than $100 a month, after tax credits.

Monday was the first day people could see 2016 prices on the website established under President Barack Obama's health care law. A new sign-up season starts Sunday, and consumers can start browsing now as they prepare to buy.

Rates increased by double digits in some states using the federal marketplace, but other states are seeing lower prices.

Insurers in many states had underpriced their plans and are raising rates because of medical inflation and higher claims than expected. Insurers are trying to find the right prices in the new marketplace.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_HEALTH_OVERHAUL_PRICES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-10-26-17-48-49

[Ed Suspicious]

1. Cost controls are needed or else federally mandated corporate giveaway.

[Fred Sanders]

2. 7.5%? Meaning basic but good plans go up 7 bucks a month? The sky is falling, the sky is falling!

Corporate giveaway! Obamacare is a failure! Prepare the impeachment papers.

Junk plans covering nothing, bankruptcy for medical bills, pre-existing condition exemptions, unlimited corporate profits....those were the days!

[former9thward]

6. They are not good plans.

Extremely high deductibles.

[Fred Sanders]

7. Compared to the similarily priced junk plans of old the new minimum benefits plans are pure gold.

Not to mention Obamacare is so much more than individual plans, as I already mentioned.

And of course not mentioned is because of subsidies for the poor the cost of a 7.5% rise is 0 dollars.

[hedda_foil]

11. That depends on the plan you choose. Yes, some have high deductibles, but many do not.

And, I believe that all of the plans have a " stop loss " provision," which limits the amount you would have to pay, even if you or a member of your family has a catastrophic illness. The insurance has to pay the rest of the bills, no matter how high they go. So your family won't go bankrupt in a medical emergency. It may take months or more to pay off the rest, but it's a finite and relatively reasonable amount, and you can usually negotiate manageable payment terms with your actual providers.

I wish more people would actually read the provisions of different policies and get answers for their questions before they choose a plan. It makes a huge difference.

And no, I'm not in the insurance or medical industries, though I was a very low level claim examiner for a year or so, nearly 50 years ago.

[lancer78]

13. my deductible

Is $500

[Igel]

9. After subsidies.

So after the people have been subsidized, that's their out-of-pocket costs.

Depends how big the subsidies paid out are.

[Auggie]

3. Our PPO went up $200 a month. The deductibles increased too.

[Sunlei]

4. Today, I got a robo call from healthcareDOTgov (obamacare site) It said..

The call reminded me it was open enrollment starting November 1.

The call told me written information will arrive in my mail this week about the open enrollment.

The call said, I can go to the website and review other less expensive options for other plans.

The call also gave me a phone number and said, I can call the number 24/7 for healthcareDOTgov live person assistance in changing my insurance plan.

Yes, my rate went from 70 a month (first year) to (140 a month) this past year. Silver plan, almost no deductible, generic drugs no charge. The same free yearly exams everyone else 'by obamacare rules'get.

I'm really lucky, a fortunate person I haven't needed to use my Obamacare insurance yet. It sure is nice to have insurance just in case. Less than 2k a year for my Obamacare. A couple years ago(before Obamacare) I was quoted $1500 a month for Humana and refused by Blue Cross.

Only thing I don't like about it is the tiny usage area. I travel a lot and odds are if I get sick or hurt it will not be close to home

[IronLionZion]

5. The next big reform needs to be on the provider side

to control the cost of providing care.

Even though the sky is falling, I got a check for last year because of the 80/20 rule.

[bhikkhu]

8. My employer-sponsored plan will stay the same, third year now

I can remember when rates were going up 10% every year, like clockwork. Overall I think Obamacare has been a huge step toward a solution to what was, for most of my life, the "unsolvable" US healthcare problem.

[Igel]

10. My employer-sponsored plan went up a bit.

My employer picked up 70% of the increased cost of the plan.

Strictly speaking, that's part of my compensation package, but all I ever see is salary and deductions from it to pay for the insurance.

[Midnight Writer]

12. I went into panic mode a few years back when my insurance went up 20% one year

I am retired and on a fixed income. When my insurance went up 20% in a single year, I knew that there was no way I could afford insurance if that kept up.

That was 2009. The increase in 2010 was about 8%. Then in 2011, my rate went DOWN by about 2%. Since then I have had modest increases of 1% and less.

I can handle increases of 2 or 3 dollars a month once a year. I cannot handle increases of 80 bucks a month.

I am not expert enough to credit Obamacare for the more reasonable increases. I can testify that my increases have been much lower since the ACA went into effect. Low enough that I can afford to insure myself.

P.S. My coverage is also better. My out of pocket prescription costs are now less than a dollar a month, as opposed to 90 dollars a month. And my cost for a twice yearly blood and urine test has decreased from $280 to $60.