Got My Insurance Cancellation Letter Today (Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield)

reply to post by IAMTAT


Please don't post things without providing proof in the post as well. Thank you

The email I received last Friday:

Our Medical Insurance costs continue to increase and now the impact of Obamacare is adding to the cost. As you will see on Thursday, we have been able to keep the increase in your Medical payroll deductions to a “relatively modest” amount and at the same time keep the Benefit Levels (office visits, co-pays, etc.) unchanged. In order to accomplish this we have eliminated a benefit that many of you may not even know had been provided by the company. The eliminated benefit is Long-Term Disability.

Long-Term Disability has previously been provided by the company for benefit-eligible employees at 100% cost to the company. Although it is being eliminated, you will now have the option to purchase Long-Term Disability at your discretion and at your cost (exactly as you do with Supplemental Life and the Colonial offerings).

The approximate increases you will see for Medical coverage beginning Dec 1, 2013 are:
• 3% for Kaiser HMO and Kaiser H.S.A.
• 10% for Anthem HMO
• 7% for Anthem PPO
• 5% for Anthem H.S.A.

If you have any questions about any of this, feel free to contact either xxxxxx xxxxxxxx or me.

Thank you.


xxx xxxxx
Chief Financial Officer

Too bad you're not living in CA. Maybe you should move?????

Where is buster? I'm sure he could give us some insight.

wills120

The approximate increases you will see for Medical coverage beginning Dec 1, 2013 are:
• 3% for Kaiser HMO and Kaiser H.S.A.
• 10% for Anthem HMO
• 7% for Anthem PPO
• 5% for Anthem H.S.A.

It's hard to know what they were paying for long-term disability insurance but the increases are inline with the average increases for 2013 (4%) according to this Kaiser Family Foundation survey.

It may surprise you to know that premiums for employer sponsored healthcare premiums have increased 80% in the last 10 years. source

In my state (NJ), disability insurance is run by the state and it comes out as a small deduction (like .2% of my pay from the look of it), it should come out to be less than $200 for somebody making $100k/year. Hard to draw too many conclusions from that letter.

reply to post by IAMTAT


I blame the dems too, but I blame the republicans for pushing the surveillance state the hardest. I hope you blaming the dems doesn't mean you are letting the gop off the hook?

Its diconscerting to hear you say you will never vote dem again. Both parties are the same.. ever consider the gop didn't vote for iy for exactly this reason? To keep you in the two party system? Keep voters running back and forth within the two party system.

Don't forget what b oth parties did. Never vote two party again. Please say you won't vote gop.. vote third party, libertatian.

Get loud but vote third party.
VOTE LIBERTARIAN.

reply to post by burdman30ott6



Just don't file income tax can't penalize u if u don't file....

Why are you guys blaming dems and reps ... Two wings on the same damn bird...

I got the same letter. And mine wasn't because the coverage was inadequate, unless I had completely misunderstood my policy. I was offered a plan for pretty much what I had but for twice as much. I called the insurance company and they pretty much walked me through the subsidy process and quoted me a pretty good policy for just under what I had been paying. The government was of course picking up a huge portion of what was the true cost of the policy.

For those people who don't qualify for a subsidy, well they are not going to benefit form this law, unless they are involved with a preexisting condition. Or have a prolonged illness where the treatment runs in the millions.

At any rate the insurance companies are protecting against these added and essentially unknown cost, from both the added income of the high profit premiums coming from the young and generally healthy, and what appears to be basically doubling the premiums for current policy holders.

I'm sure there is a plan in there somewhere to gain control of costs, but it seems kind of pricy, at the front end.

What is needed is an extensive accounting of the healthcare delivery system, and like with the Federal Reserve, I'm afraid that's never going to happen.

reply to post by IAMTAT


That sucks mate.
My insurance went up by $8 a month but then again i work for a major international company.
The affordable care act is the biggest swindle i have ever seen.It is nothing but a Tax on those who could not afford health care in the first place.And a new Tax put on those who could afford it until all the prices went up and now they are stuck with fork out if that's a viable option or have no health care and get fined/taxed as a penalty.

reply to post by InTheFlesh1980

I would like all the Obamacare proponents to come to this thread and try to explain why they support this.

lol
You think any of them have the balls to come on here now and explain why they wanted this? They wanted what they THOUGHT this was going to be. Too bad Obama lied....again.

People deserve what they get from him though, he won the election!

MichaelPMaccabee
Washington didn't cross the Delaware on July 4th in a pontoon boat, my friend.

I understand and really do respect your hypothesis, but I just don't agree with you that this is one of the only methods that needs to be used in the overall goal of replacing these carpetbaggers that infect all of D.C on both sides. ~$heopleNation

NoRulesAllowed
I beg that some things need to be considered before people start to complain:

Like how folks are too stupid to determine what's best for themselves?

But the question is what the OLD plan covered (there was a reason it was cancelled), probably because the coverage in relation to the premiums was not sufficient! This is why it is deemed not "health care reform compliant".

Not Sufficient! As determined by whom, again? Oh yes, thank God for a caring, deadly powerful government.

So..what does the NEW, more expensive plan cover? If the new plan is "compliant" now I can assume that it also covers more than the older one, otherwise the old one wouldn't have been cancelled!

Ask all the retirees now forced to pay for maternity care, which is mandatory in their coverage.

ALSO..your letter probably quoted you the $1300 for a compliant plan which has the "required" coverage..but there is no information whether you and your family CAN also have a cheaper plan optionally. In others words: Is the $1300 the ONLY plan you can get?

How about Obama lying To Our Faces Dozens of Times, to fool enough useful, low info proletaria into re-electing this disastrous malevolence back into office?

A certain sort know he lied, approve of his lie, and will do all they can to minimise the lie. Does anyone wonder what sort of people in the general public majority were Hitler supporters in Germany at the time?

reply to post by IAMTAT
I don't like my plan, and yet I am being forced to keep it lol How does that work?

reply to post by TheWrightWing


Some of these plans that got cancelled allowed for only two doctors office visits a year. Some people have pets that get two vet visits a year.

Seriously, you need to get some information before you rant. Check out those flaming crazed liberals at Consumer Reports.
Junk health insurance

Again, I ask people to leaching off of those who have real health insurance. Take some responsibility your healthcare, rather than being a burden on the rest of us.

reply to post by AlienScience


Your "platinum" plan pounds like he Cadillac plans many many companies are having to get rid of.

Let's turn the tables, shall we. Unless you can provide proof, I call BS. I say it is bigger BS then when 0bama pitched the "you can keep your plan" BS.

Wookiep
reply to post by gariac

 

You clearly don't watch "Democracy Now."

True, I clearly don't..Are you saying there are actual liberals out there who are actually aware of the real issues and not soley stuck on racism at every turn? That's awesome if so... but the many I know are in some weird Obama trance who say nothing when things like NDAA or the lies are brought up, and just post daily Obama memes along with things about racism on facebook etc.. Day in day out, I swear it's really bizarre.

edit on 6-11-2013 by Wookiep because: (no reason given)

Facebook. Well there is your problem. Facebook is a cesspool of morons. I search it for DMCA violations all the time and can't believe the idiots on Facebook. There is no single collection of stupider people on the planet. We're talking "Weazel" News dumb.

Here are half a dozen stories Democracy Now did on the NDAA:
Democracy Now NDAA

reply to post by gariac


The reason for the insurance companies to cancel policies is because they can now increase rates thank to loopholes on the ACA they can get away with it.

ACA will not control the cost of care, it only promises that you have to be mandated into buying insurance, that may qualified for subsidies, or fall under Medicaid expansion and that you could not be denied.

Is that simple to understand what is going on right now with the insurance companies, my premiums went up so the co pays and deductibles, I got the same insurance, but now I have to deal with less doctors in the network and paying more.

And my husband and I are under government subsidized Tricare because he is a retire, this was done in October last year when the government decided to change insurance providers.

So I know exactly what is going on, most of the wave of cancellations is in an effort for the Insurance companies to make more money out of the "new and improve in compliance with ACA policies, but we know exactly what it is, nothing but price gouging

reply to post by macman


The administration is getting rid of Cadillac plans that are basically tax dodges. That is, those that receive them get ridiculous benefits without paying for them. They can get a conforming plan then pay OUT OF POCKET for the additional goodies if they want. Some covered elective plastic surgery! Do you like getting ripped off? Since the employer writes off the cost of these plans, it is less money for the treasury. Do you like deficits?

The problem with the stupid American healthcare system is few people see the actual cost. I buy my own policy. It is a damn expensive PPO. I'm going to wait a bit for some history on the new plans, then dump what I have if I can get the same for less. BTW, I have actually received rebates from my PPO under Obamacare. Since I pay for my policy, I get the cash. Me and about 3 million people.
Obamacare rebates

PPO versus HMO? It is often the difference between getting a diagnostic test and the doctor just making an educated guess. I have first hand knowledge of this.

reply to post by IAMTAT


Correct me if I am wrong, but due to ACA, you have no insurance?

You mean were you to get hit by a bus, get cancer tomorrow or any of the other PR buzzwords associated with ACA you are up a creek?