[quote=SK in CV]I assure you that nothing in the ACA caused those increases. I know this because I’ve actually read the bill, and know that there hasn’t been any substantial burden on insurance companies that have gone into effect yet. (covering kids up to age 26? A money maker for insurance companies. Thats a demographic that rarely consumes health care dollars. Aetna and Anthem Blue Cross internal numbers put the increased burden as a result of the ACA at 2.4 and 2.6% respectively for calendar year 2012. Zero for 2010 and 2011.) Insurance companies raise rates when they can. It’s highly likely that 2012 will be an extraordinarily competitive year for group coverage in most of the country, and rates may even fall.
I presume you’re aware that an 8.5% increase over the last 2 1/2 years is substantially less than average increases over the previous 10 years? That would be things getting better, not worse.
What exactly makes your plan grandfathered?
Are you saying you have a multi-year contract that can’t be changed or withdrawn? I wasn’t aware those contracts existed.[/quote]
SK, the HCRA is only coming up on 1.5 years old (3-21-10). Thus, those 3 rate-hikes were all within 16 months, the last one being in July.
All the excuses given to me in the “rate-hike letters” I rec’d were that “costs were rising in my area.” I can see this at a micro level when a typical mammogram, for instance, has gone from $111 to $121 to $166 in the last three years.
I took out my policy 7 yrs ago, originally in a “group plan.” My current plan is under the same member number as when I was in the group, but is now an “individual plan.” I never used COBRA (which was more expensive than an individual plan [if one had no pre-existing conditions]). I went thru the “qualification process” for an individual plan, instead.
This is a generic copy of my 1st “rate-hike” ltr after the HCRA was passed.
