Yep, I have recent experience with this. We applied for a quote on the Costco/Aetna individual (family) coverage as soon as it was available in late Jan, as our current policy through Anthem/BC renewed us for Feb 1st with a 28% increase (same increase I believe went to all individual policy holders). We only want high deductible health insurance to cover catastrophic care…we go into it knowing we’re going to pay for all else out of pocket and just search for the lowest premium and highest deductible.
This year, we shopped it around by getting quotes from a broker, who told us that in his experience, the Health Net policies offered through the Farm Bureau (yes, you have to join the CA Farm Bureau to get them!) were currently the lowest cost. In addition to his Health Net quote, we got the Aetna/Costco quote so that with our Anthem/BC renewal, we had a total of 3 to compare.
For all 3 carriers, we went with their highest deductible plans, which were all $5000-$6000 per individual or $10,000-$12,000 for a family. We basically just compared the worst-case scenarios for each plan and took at look at our out-of-pocket maximums. Plans had minor trade-offs in coverage but all offered one full physical per year w/out incurring deductible or coinsurance but the rest was subject to deductible/coinsurance. I can’t recall what the various prescription drug coverage options were, but very similar (I think all were subject to deductible/coinsurance).
So the way it turned out was that it was basically a wash between all three. The new Aetna/Costco plan was the most expensive, believe it or not, but I think it was only by about $40/mo.
For all these plans, you get a quick estimate up front, which usually looks decent, but then you have to spend quite a long time (especially if you have 4-5 in your family like us) filling out extremely detailed medical info for each person going back 5 full years in medical history (UGH!) and afterwards, the simplest issues can cause their underwriters to rate you up. One of our kids was rated up for infrequent visits to a dermatologist. She’s a typical teen who wants to keep her skin flawless so she takes Retin-A to keep pimples at bay and they came back with a 30% increase in her rate with a diagnosis of acne. It’s all so silly because with a $5000 deductible, the insurance company never pays out on any of these minor claims anyway, but you still have to report them, of course.
So in the end, it made most sense for us to just stay put…we could’ve saved $30ish a month to move, but in my mind, it’s better to build a longer track record with one insurer as the underwriters do consider longevity of policy when they rate you in the future. Also, it’s the old adage of staying with the devil you know versus going with the devil you don’t know.
One more thought…you probably know this, but if you form an LLC or S Corp for any type of business and buy the insurance through the business, your rates will be substantially lower.
We’re going to be interested in seeing what the new federal health care laws will bring next year for individual policies. Health care in our country is one of the biggest conundrums ever – seems almost too complex to solve for so many reasons (let’s not even get started on that!)
