It is probably a typical unsurprising amount. Employer groups with relatively young employees commonly pay significantly more than that per employee.
Most people who have not seen the full price of medical insurance (due to receiving heavily subsidized insurance from their employer or the government) are shocked at the price.
The average price for employer insurance for a single employee is $6,690 in 2017, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. https://www.kff.org/report-section/ehbs-2017-summary-of-findings/
@thumper1 - Is your son eligible for any of the pharmaceutical programs to provide subsidies or free medication or even a discount coupon for his meds?
I have employer health insurance but I can’t even think about retiring until I am of Medicare age with what is going on. My D is going off my coverage at the end of the month when she turns 26 and her company’s plan is not that great, but she insisted on leaving teaching (NYC DOE has great insurance). Her boyfriend finally confessed last night that he has quit his job to do a start-up. He’s 24 but has to COBRA because his parents live in Europe and are not US citizens; he is naturalized. I almost told D to marry him to give him health insurance. After all, it’s one of the main reasons I married H when I did. My oldest son has coverage through USPS, his gf has none. He is planning to marry her; they’ve been together 9 years.
The 3 younger boys (23, 21 and 18) are still on my plan, but I worry that they will remove the age 26 cushion. Back in the day, I went off my dad’s plan at 19 and had no real coverage till age 25 1/2, and I suffered with RA since age 20. I had to go to clinics and when I finally started working, I had to literally almost crawl to work many days in pain, too afraid to seek medical care until my coverage kicked in after 6 months because it would be considered a pre-existing condition and I would never be able to get coverage. I pray that those days don’t return.
@ucbalumnus I negotiated contracts for MANY years for a school district. I am very familiar with insurance costs.$4800 for one person is a lot. Especially for a high deductible, high copay plan…
@techmom99 that is my biggest fear- pre-existing conditions return. Not having insurance literally almost killed me once (chronicled on CC the tale of my emergency gallbladder removal)- and that was when I was healthy.
Now I am a walking pre-existing condition.
Mr R and I married primarily so he could be on my health insurance.
Let’s keep this thread for people trying to figure out how to navigate the confusion of individual insurance, and not veer off into what we wish would or would not happen.
I wish I could at least get a look at what will be available on 11/1. I can’t see see plans or expected rates until 11/1.
@shellfell, what state are you in? I might know where to look for info.
CT
I live in Maine if you have any idea where I can look.
Okay, Connecticut.
If you are not subsidized, looks like your rates will go up around 20-25%: http://www.ct.gov/cid/cwp/view.asp?a=4059&Q=596224
If you are subsidized, you’ll get a much bigger subsidy. Connecticut is doing the “Silver Switcharoo,” where all of the CSR surcharge is loaded onto Silver exchange plans. That makes on-exchange Silver prices go way up, makes subsidies go way up and holds unsubsidized people harmless.
Everybody who will use the national exchange, healthcare.gov, please get signed up early. Note that in addition to cutting the enrollment period in half, HHS is also shutting off the enrollment website on Sundays from midnight to noon Eastern time, and shutting off the website overnight the first day of enrollment, Nov. 1.
Don’t wait until the last minute. The website could be slow as the enrollment period goes on. For those whose states are on healthcare.gov, **your deadline is Dec. 15. **
So, same as California. Obviously not the way the system is intended to work, but basically subsidy-eligible buyers who live in states which set up their own exchanges are largely insulated from the change.
The majority of states are having their carriers load the CSR surcharge either onto all Silver plans (26 states, or onto on-exchange Silver plans only (10 states).
What does that mean for you the individual insurance buyer? It means, shop around. Look at different carriers and different metal levels. There are bargains and bad deals.
In Maine, Anthem dropped off the exchanges, saying that they couldn’t price with the uncertainties about whether the CSRs would be paid and whether the mandate would be enforced. Looks like average 20% increases for non-Silver plans for the remaining carriers. Silver plans will increase more; don’t buy one unless your income is less than 200% of the poverty line.
CF, you must’ve been looking at some of the small group plan rates when you said CT would go up 20-25%. The individual plan rates that were approved were 28-31% higher. And that’s only an average. I still won’t know what my actual increase will be until 11/1. We have a bronze plan this year, and will probably do the same next year since we don’t qualify for subsidies. Thanks anyway.
shellfell, I said the increase for non-Silver plans. My understanding is that Connecticut has put all of the CSR surcharge on Silver plans, both on and off-exchange. My understanding is the non-Silver plans have gone up 20-25%, but the Silver plans have gone up a whole lot more. But you’re not going to buy Silver, or at least you shouldn’t unless your income is less than 200% of the poverty line.
I was trying to give a number to represent the cost increase you would face. You’re not going to face a big cost increase for Silver, because (I’m pretty sure) you’re not going to buy Silver.
What Income is 200% of the poverty line?
It’s half the numbers posted in #55, so $24,120 for 1 person.
For an individual in the contintental US in 2017, 200% = $24,120
See https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/federal-poverty-level-FPL/
& http://familiesusa.org/product/federal-poverty-guidelines