ACA, Higher Deductibles, and Consumer Wages

[MDM4AU 330]

Employers Shift More Health Costs To Workers, Survey Finds

http://khn.org/news/...s-survey-finds/

Health plan deductibles are growing seven times as fast as wages

http://www.washingto...-fast-as-wages/

Health Insurance Deductibles Outpacing Wage Increases, Study Finds

http://www.nytimes.c...ref=health&_r=0

Employer Health Coverage for Family Tops $17,000

http://www.wsj.com/a...-000-1442934002

Healthcare costs rise again, and the burden continues to shift to workers

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-healthcare-costs-20150922-story.html

[cooltigger21 0]

All this was predicted ahead of time. Nobody wanted to listen. It's only going to get worse.

[TitanTiger 20,471]

All true for me. My insurance each year is getting progressively (and noticeably) higher in monthly premiums and the deductibles are going up dramatically with it.

[autigeremt 6,569]

Ours (at AU) is going to go up come Jan. 1, 2016. Across the board and the coverage is going to be worse than what we have now.

Come 2017 or 2018, Single Payer will be rolled out as the savior.

[channonc 466]

I really think this depends on what state your plan is in. Our plan went up slightly last year, but no more than inflation really, and so far, we have received no notices of it increasing this year. I am on my husband's plan and his job is based in MA.

[AUcivE09 582]

The worst part is the out of pocket max. Should something really bad happen to my family or I we will owe $12,500. My cost before this "Affordable" plan was $6,500. I make pretty good money and $12,500 will hurt! So far this year I have paid ~$1,800 more in premiums than last year. Glad he was looking out for the middle class....

[TitanTiger 20,471]

Come 2017 or 2018, Single Payer will be rolled out as the savior.

Probably a little sooner than my timeline on the matter. I think within 8 years that will be what happens.

[homersapien 11,354]

The worst part is the out of pocket max. Should something really bad happen to my family or I we will owe $12,500. My cost before this "Affordable" plan was $6,500. I make pretty good money and $12,500 will hurt! So far this year I have paid ~$1,800 more in premiums than last year. Glad he was looking out for the middle class....

If you don't already have a Healthcare Savings Account, you need to start one.

[AUcivE09 582]

The worst part is the out of pocket max. Should something really bad happen to my family or I we will owe $12,500. My cost before this "Affordable" plan was $6,500. I make pretty good money and $12,500 will hurt! So far this year I have paid ~$1,800 more in premiums than last year. Glad he was looking out for the middle class....

If you don't already have a Healthcare Savings Account, you need to start one.

I do that for Dr visits, prescription, and wife's contact etc. Wont help much if the worst happens, however. HSA does little to offset the extra I am paying or may have to pay. $1000 is still a $280 savings so I still go with it.

[MDM4AU 330]

I really think this depends on what state your plan is in. Our plan went up slightly last year, but no more than inflation really, and so far, we have received no notices of it increasing this year. I am on my husband's plan and his job is based in MA.

That could be it but also consider how much the employer absorbs or if your employer plan has even been affected yet. If the plan is self-funded you may not be feeling anything yet.

[cptau 169]

Healthcare costs will continue to rise. Whenever the government get involved in subsidizing anything prices go up faster. Government healthcare involvement started with Medicare in the 1960s and continued with Medicaid and now the ACA.

You have a infinite demand chasing a finite resource. If you open up healthcare resources to all, rationing is the only control.

[TitanTiger 20,471]

Healthcare costs will continue to rise. Whenever the government get involved in subsidizing anything prices go up faster. Government healthcare involvement started with Medicare in the 1960s and continued with Medicaid and now the ACA.

You have a infinite demand chasing a finite resource. If you open up healthcare resources to all, rationing is the only control.

I've heard this line of thinking and I get the logic to an extent. But why then are single payer systems like Canada, Britain, France, Japan and others all cheaper per person with better outcomes? You don't get much more government involvement than that.

[channonc 466]

I really think this depends on what state your plan is in. Our plan went up slightly last year, but no more than inflation really, and so far, we have received no notices of it increasing this year. I am on my husband's plan and his job is based in MA.

That could be it but also consider how much the employer absorbs or if your employer plan has even been affected yet. If the plan is self-funded you may not be feeling anything yet.

Employer absorbed costs haven't significantly risen either. Not saying others aren't seeing a big change, but we have seen minimal impacts.

[AURaptor 1,121]

" If you like your plan, you can keep your plan.

Period "

[TitanTiger 20,471]

I really think this depends on what state your plan is in. Our plan went up slightly last year, but no more than inflation really, and so far, we have received no notices of it increasing this year. I am on my husband's plan and his job is based in MA.

That could be it but also consider how much the employer absorbs or if your employer plan has even been affected yet. If the plan is self-funded you may not be feeling anything yet.

Employer absorbed costs haven't significantly risen either. Not saying others aren't seeing a big change, but we have seen minimal impacts.

Consider yourself lucky then

[RunInRed 16,360]

I get the ACA hate but you also have to ask yourself, what did my premiums do in the years prior? ... it's not like they were stagnant then either ... healthcare costs have been on the rise for a while and have been actually slowing over the past few years if you dig into the detail.

In the past 10 years, healthcare reforms and new technology have managed to slow the growth of healthcare spending in the United States, but not to halt it or reverse the trend, according to a new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Health Research Institute (HRI).

Far from bankrupting the nation, as its critics predicted, Obamacare may be making medicine thriftier. Even so, health-care spending as a share of GDP is likely to rise over the next decade as Americans age. With the economy recovering this year, the total health-care bill is projected to grow by 6%

http://www.economist...acare-cut-costs

Healthcare spending grows at lowest-rate ever

Premium growth slowed after Obamacare

[MDM4AU 330]

What we've seen lately with Rx costs alone, ACA hasn't done anything to slow the actual cost of healthcare.

[RunInRed 16,360]

What we've seen lately with Rx costs alone, ACA hasn't done anything to slow the actual cost of healthcare.

The data doesn't support this ...

With health care cost growth continuing to slow, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO)now projects that federal health spending will be nearly $700 billion less over the 2011-2020 period than what CBO projected in January 2010 — even with the subsequent enactment of health reform

http://www.cbpp.org/blog/health-costs-continue-to-slow-improving-budget-outlook

[MDM4AU 330]

Explain the increase in Rx. I just posted data in another thread that describes the drastic increase in mess in the last year or so.

What does ACA do to address the actual costs of the care one receives?

[RunInRed 16,360]

So you want the ACA to better regulate big pharma? Is that the beef?

[MDM4AU 330]

I'm saying ACA hasn't curbed the cost of care the way it is being played up by some. ACA regulates the people that are paying for the care and pretending it is reforming healthcare or making the care you get less costly.

[TitanTiger 20,471]

I get the ACA hate but you also have to ask yourself, what did my premiums do in the years prior? ... it's not like they were stagnant then either ... healthcare costs have been on the rise for a while and have been actually slowing over the past few years if you dig into the detail.

This year was the biggest spike in premiums for me since I moved back to Montgomery 8 years ago. As in, at least triple any yearly increase I've had before.

[AURaptor 1,121]

My premium almost doubled thanks to O Care.

Don't tell me that I'm getting the exact same sort of rate increase as I did before. It's just simply flat not even close.

[DKW 86 7,411]

THE ACA WAS NEEDED. I know people whose insurance was so poor they basically had none. They and their familys needed care. NO DOUBT.

We have insured so many more millions of people. The ACA was an overall good idea, and an overall disaster being implemented.

The problem was those of us that actually had good plans.

My premiums are around triple what they were before what they were before the ACA.

My out of pocket costs are many many multiples higher, but i have to go back to 2010.

My out of pocket costs for my ambulatory surgery this year will be something just over $5K.

My back surgery costs were less than $500 just a few years ago and that included a hospital stay and much more involved surgery.

But hey, I can keep my plan if i like my plan... :lmao:/>

So, what we have is three-fold:

1) Those with no or very little coverage have OMG benefitted from the ACA. Our ERs are transformed. OVERALL Healthcare in America is much better.

2) Those of us that had good to great plans, we got screwed and lied to. We didnt get to keep our plans. We werent going to be able to keep our plans unless our plans just happened to cover all the things mandated from on high in DC. The pols in DC lied to us to sell the plan.

3) The Insurance Companies and Big Pharma were basically guaranteed profits in the backdoor deals to sell the plan.

EVERYBODY BUT THE AMERICAN MIDDLE CLASS BENEFITED FROM IT SO FAR.

Single payer is coming folks. If you cant see that, open your eyes. To make this deal work for the American Middle Class single payer will come in the form of basically extended medicare to everyone. It will happen. Whether it is 2 years or 8 years away is up for debate, but it is coming. I would just as soon have that than the garbage plan i have now that costs so ridiculously much, AND TAKES A PART TIME JOB AND AN ASSOCIATES DEGREE TO BE ABLE TO FILE.

[AURaptor 1,121]

The ACA absolutely was NOT needed.