DC Health Exchange- all options are really expensive?
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Anonymous
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I am a huge supporter of the ACA (Obamacare) and am thrilled that its come to fruition.
We have our own individual insurance and it has almost doubled in cost in the past 4 years so I thought I'd take a look at options available to us through the DC Health Exchange. I am really shocked- the closest in cost to what we pay monthly has an $11,000 deductible (ours is only a 250 per person prescription deductible). To get similair to what we have, the cost is close to 50-70% more. Maybe we have a great deal, although its close to 1000/month. I am just so surprised that it costs so much- is this going to work> Will people who need it be able to afford it? No politicking, I am truly curious (and I'm rooting for it to work). |
Anonymous
| I'm guessing that you are relatively young. The ACA was designed to have relatively young healthy people subsidize older sicker people. If you are not eligible for a subsidy, and you are younger and healthier, your insurance costs will likely go up. Also, the minimum coverage requirement for the ACA plans are higher than many individual plans have been in the past. Who did you think was going to pay for all of those folks with preexisting conditions that the insurance companies now can't turn down? |
Anonymous
| I think this is the big shocker for a lot of people OP. If you are middle class & young (under 35) the cost is huge. It's not a better deal than anything you can currently find on the market. It' only truly helps those who could not find insurance before due to preexisting conditions. We already had govt health care for the truly poor and elderly. |
Anonymous
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What rock have you been living under? Of course the costs are skyrocketing. How in the heck is rhis a surprise? My mothers went to $1500/mo and a 10k deductible. She has never had an illness other than the usual colds. She is 60, nornal weight and is a nationally ranked tennis player in her division.
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Anonymous
I haven't been living under a rock-I'm 47 and am surprised that the options for someone like me were so much more than what I am paying now. I don't have employer insurance and have paid for an individual family plan for the past 15 years. I didn't expect that to find any kind of bargain, I work in health care and am aware of the crisis with insurance. I was looking st options and I am surprised by them. I guess I have a great deal-even though it is by no means inexpensive. I doubt it will stay that way- it was just an observation and I was wondering if others were surprised as well. |
Anonymous
| I'm confused. I thought expenses were capped at 6500 dollars a year. |
Anonymous
| You have to pay for those that can't. Obama never said it would be cheap. You wanted, you got it. Pay your share and shut up. |
Anonymous
I'm not the OP but Jesus, why the vitriol? She asked a simple question, why do you have to be rude and tell her to shut up? |
Anonymous
I think the PP was trying to make a point, and not literally telling her to "shut up". The point being: the young and healthy having to pay the lion's share for the old and sick has been part of the plan all along. And, because plenty of people cannot or will not pay these amounts, the exchanges will fail. |
Anonymous
| I agree OP. I have the same concerns. I am hopeful but concerned. |
Anonymous
Keep in mind that if you are buying health insurance on the exchange and your income is between 100-400% of the poverty level, you get a subsidy, in the form of a tax credit which goes to pay the health insurance premium. So you don't pay the full price. If your income is 100-133% of poverty level, you will not pay more than 2% of your income for health insurance, and so on up to if your income is 300-400% of poverty level, you will not pay more than 9.5% of your income for health insurance. This explains about the subsidies. http://kaiserfamilyfoundation.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/7962-02.pdf The 2013 poverty level is $23,550 for a family of 4, so 400% of the poverty level for a family of 4 is $94,200. Here is a good overall explanation: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Decoder/2013/1001/Obamacare-101-how-the-federal-subsidy-works-video |
Anonymous
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Jeff is explain in the political forum that while it might be cheaper for people in some states, it won't be for DC residents.
It does tickle me how many people were all YAY OBAMACARE, ACA ALL THE WAY!! Then when they realized how it would affect THEM are like "Uhhhh...." Hey, y'all wanted it and you got it! |
jsteele
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I haven't looked at the plans with high deductibles. At least for the choices I was given, the monthly cost between Bronze, Gold, and even Platinum was not that big so I started reviewing the higher cost plans. But, at least for the plans that I saw, a huge amount of care was covered at no cost or for a small copay. From what I saw, you wouldn't even have to start paying the deductible unless you had a serious illness or injury. You have to download the PDF that goes into detail about the plan to see that information. Also, if there is anyway that you can get under the "small business" umbrella, there are a lot more plans available. I think there are over two hundred small business plans and only about 30 individual plans. You can be a small business if you have at least one full time employee -- 30 hours -- or two part time employees -- 15 hours each. Then you also get a bunch of tax credits. |
Anonymous
| Op again, thanks to those who responded with info I did not have-I will look into small business options and also realize we may qualify for a subsidy based on what someone wrote here. Thanks. |
Anonymous
| It's funny how people thought it would be free. People are too stupid to understand what a deductible and co pay is. |