General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Just got my ACA premium notice for next year [View all]Ms. Toad
(34,069 posts)$27.55 is the subsidized premium. Assuming her income did not change significantly, her subsidized premium for next year will be roughly the same.
the $74.12 change is to the unsubsidized premium - which has little relationship to what she has to pay.
Simplified example:
Essentialy you are entitled to coverage, capped at a certain percentage of your income. Without going back to look at the real caps, say it is 8%, and your monthly income is $344.38. Your premium would be $27.55/month.
Next year your income goes up 2% to $351.27 - that would make your new premium $28.10.
So even though Humana's premiums went up $74.12/month, her share would only go up $.55/month
The entire calculation is a bit more complex - but that is the 10,00 foot view of how the subsidies work.
So instead of estimating that her new subsidized premium would be $28.10 (or whatever the equivalent subsidized premium would be - and there are numerous calculators out there to determine it), Humana just tacked the unsubsidized change onto last year's subsidized premium, creating a number that is (1) totally meaningless and (2) unnecessarily confusing and scary.