<p>Not freaking out, dstark, but a policy to cover my wife and I today can hit $20K if we hit the OOP limits. If that only doubles in the next 10 years, by the time we are eligible for Medicaid…</p>
<p>One of the benefits of ACA was supposed to be cost containment. I was just reading another article about how profits at health care providers are way up because there are so many fewer no-pays. </p>
<p>Maybe other states will be different and have smaller increases.</p>
<p>If I ever need Sovaldi or Harvoni I will just hop a plane to India, where the price for the entire 84-day treatment will be $900, which is less than the cost of one pill in this country.</p>
<p>No. NCBC is the first to announce the 2015 prices for ACA policies that I’ve seen so far. I have no reason to believe other states will be less, but we will have to see.</p>
<p>Apparently the insurance companies have managed to get a clause in the exchange contracts that if the subsidies are eliminated they can cancel the policies.</p>
<p>Grandfathered non-ACA policies bought between 2010 and 2013 are going up almost 20%.</p>
<p>Well… You missed things. Other states have come out with 2015 rates. I would look at what the rates are where you actually live. </p>
<p>You are also assuming both you and your wife are going to hit out of pocket maximums. Rates are going to continue to go up at what? Figure out what your costs are likely to be…</p>
<p>If you are going to live on the edge in retirement I suggest you or your wife or both of you work a little longer. </p>
<p>Freaking out doesnt help much, but if you have to freak out, freak out.</p>
<p>Gild has about 10 or 11 billion invested in this cure. India can be a very good choice if you qualify. </p>
<p>If you are worrying about contracting hep c, I suggest you also moderate your behavior.</p>
<p>@notrichenough. I don’t believe there is an age limit for Medicaid, only income and asset limits. Even Medicare allows disabled people who are under 65 to qualify for benefits, though most of us prefer not to qualify due to disability. I count our blessings that H had a great insurance policy from his employer that will cover both of us until we die and they continue to pay the majority of the premium and have an annual cap of $2,500 per person and $7,500 per family, with no lifetime maximum. It’s been a pretty good policy throughout our marriage, even tho I forced H to switch from Kaiser HMO to BCBS PPO policy that allows us more choice about whom we see for healthcare. Because of pre-existing health conditions, it would have been tough to get coverage without H’s employer providing it.</p>
<p>S was rejected from medical coverage when we tried to get him an individual policy after he aged out of the policy his U offered after graduation because he had pre-existing health conditions (well-controlled asthma). He was able to get a policy from our BCBS because he had never had a gap in BCBS coverage, but otherwise would not have had coverage for several months until he was again covered by our policy since he was under 26.</p>
<p>Don’t know much about ACA policies. Our premiums haven’t changed much in many years, pre and post ACA. H was an employee of a large employer.</p>
<p>Asthma is a problem for denial. Well my mom had severe asthma, all my nephews have it, but surprisingly none of the girls have it on the third generation. None of my mom’s kids have it. </p>
<p>Well, I have it in spades, D has it, my niece was once hospitalized with it when she was a toddler. I’d say it hits a lot of people–about 10% in our state! I would think if the person has NEVER been hospitalized with it and isn’t even taking any medications for it and hasn’t needed to see a doc about it for many years, it’s pretty stable. I do understand that it can be an expensive condition tho. They didn’t get his premium $$$ tho, our insurer was happy to take the money & he postposed any medical visits until he was covered under our policy again on 1/1 (no deductible vs the deductible he would have had to meet with the individual policy he was reluctantly offered).</p>
<p>Dr G I love your sense of humor. You know, humor trait is inherited. I have only seen this in New Yorkers, Chicago people, or a family trait. :)) </p>
What have been the increases? I haven’t seen any other numbers.</p>
<p>
Well, that’s what I am trying to do. Worst case is premiums plus OOP max. For many policies the deductible is about the same as the OOP max, which means it would not be hard to hit.</p>
<p>
Who said anything about living on the edge?</p>
<p>
Why would you think I am “freaking out?” All I am doing is discussing an article I read.</p>
<p>
Haha, I gave up sharing needles and using meth years ago. I think I am good. ;)</p>
<p>"Among the six states and DC with final rate announcements, the average premium (across metal tiers and ages) is about $328, and the average premium increase from 2014 is 2.6%. By contrast, the average premium increase across all reporting states is 5.9% and the average premium is $382.</p>
<p>Though average rate increases hover in the single-digit range, actual changes and premium prices vary significantly across states. In states with approved rates, average rates range from a 22% decrease to a 35% increase (in Colorado)."</p>
<p>I’m not sure how average rate information would help notrichenough. They are looking for a rate for an older person, for a specific state, not an overall average of all ages and all states. Lucky to not live In Nevada, where your premium might increase up to 36%.</p>
</p>