10-26-2016, 08:27 PM
(10-26-2016, 08:05 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Anyway you look at it, every plan has to be ACA compliant. Each year, the number of insurance companies that are willing to offer coverage is decreasing, and the rates they charge for coverage is increasing. For example, my wife and I are lucky, we both enjoy good coverage provided to us by our employers at no out of pocket expense. However, it cost her almost double in copays for care and prescriptions as it does for myself, as we are insured by different carriers. Thank goodness we no longer need to carry a family plan. A man that I work with has to pay the difference between single coverage and the total cost of the family plan, his out of pocket is over $1200/mo. before any deductibles and copays. That may not sound like much to people making six figure salaries, but this particular guy is salaries at around 50K base, and might get to 60K with overtime..
ACA compliant means health insurance companies can't deny coverage for pre-existing conditions, no lifetime caps, must provide coverage for qualifying individuals up to age 26, etc.
The insurance companies come up with the prices by and large. The price differences you and your wife experience is because your company negotiated a better deal than your wife's company or the group of people who negotiated on behalf of your wife's company did a poor job of negotiating with the health insurance companies. Employer sponsored health care plans typically involve splitting the cost between the employer and the employee. Employers have systematically decreased their percentage while shifting more of the cost onto the employee. Employers typically contribute a smaller percentage to family plans compared to individual coverage which forces families to do what you and your wife have done; pay for individual coverage through two different employers. This tactic reduces the cost to the employer. This BS has nothing to do with Obamacare.
Everything you are complaining about, which are legitimate complaints, were happening long before Obamacare. Your complaints are the results of the health insurance companies, the health care industry, and private businesses trying to turn a profit. Capitalism.
The company I work for announced our health insurance premiums will decrease for the third year in a row. That isn't the result of Obamacare, either. It is a direct result of the company increasing their negotiating leverage with health insurance companies to secure better rates.
PS Why is your wife lucky she pays twice as much as you in copays and for prescriptions?
