Aon is so full of it a Thansgiving turkey blushes. Not an iota of truth to anything they have said here. 600 employers is about as creditable as taking a cup of seawater at the mouth of the St Lawrence and using that to determine the ocean current in South America. Pure bogus garbage.
And it would be great to see Hewett put out a confidence factor on their study.
What motivation did Jonathon Gruber, Kathleen Sebelius, Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer and others to lie about this to the American People?
Glad after all plan design changes (in other words reductions in cvg) and people being too broke to handled the deductibles & costs for health care services that the increases are slowing for larger employers (not necessarily their employees and certainly not for individuals or small employers)……. what the heck did that study actually tell us about the state of the healthcare system??
All I know is my plan design changed and I have an 18.8% pure rate increase for my 5 person insurance agency …. and that doesnt count the cost of plan design changes (pushing more costs at my employees) to keep the rates down to the 18.8% increase.
I’ll bet if I cut my employees pay in half(“their benefit for working”) they’ll drive less as well as use less health services … keeping gas consumption and pollution down … thats a good thing not mean right? :):)
Almost all of my Ofnbama care clients are getting Non Renewals with a suggested plan to take instead. One of them has the ded going from 500 to 1750. OOP from 3300 to 5700. Co Insurance from 20% to 30%. Eliminating Co Pays to Doctors. All for a 20.33% increase in premium.
Another has none of his doctors in network.
Another called the Market Place and stated I do not want an HMO. What did the pin head on the 800 number giver her??? An HMO with none of her docs in network.
Worst Law by the worst president… A Big Fat Liar!
The stories I am getting from others….. What a joke this big fat liar pulled on everyone.
Jack, perhaps we should revise the lying to the biggest Presidential Liar of all time. Perhaps you saw my post on another article where I listed only a fraction (27) or so major lies and Healthcare was just a small number of them.
Jack, for those who have forgotten since the disaster was passed, it was also a very large tax increase built into it.
1. Medicare Tax went from 1.45% to 2.35%
2. Top Income tax bracket went from 35% to 39.6%
3. Top Income Payroll Tax went from 37.4% to 52.2%
4. Capital Gains tax went from 15% to 28%
5. Dividend tax wend from 15% to 39.6%
6. Estate Tax went from 0% to 55%. A 3.5% Real Estate transaction tax was added.
These taxes were all passed solely with Democratic votes with not one Republican vote as part of the Affordable Care Act aka Obamacare. This is why we are seeing a revolt against Democratic rule.
I get sick of jerks who write misleading and false information and then act like they have a brain. This crap was being spread by morons back in 2013 and discredited several times. I can’t blame anyone for hiding behind a fictitious name, and not wanting anyone to know just how ignorant and pathetic they were.
Hi FFA. I congratulate your Bears for beating the Chargers on their turf. I think the Chargers may have been taking them lightly and there is a saying – On any given Sunday or whenever they play, any team can beat another. Cutler actually looked like he knew what he was doing. Where has that been all year?
By the way, this article was just as useful with bad information as the weekly Global Warming/Climate Change articles.
I havnt ben able to watch the Bears – or much F Ball for that matter. We dropped over 130 trees and I have me a date with a chain saw and log splitter on Sat & Sundays.
130 trees makes a lot of firewood FFA. You are going to have all those Climate Change freaks after you for contributing to Global Warming. The EPA is already out with recommendations to stop back yard BBQ’s. That is the first agency that should go bye, bye in the new Republican Administration. At least fire all the top administrators and pare it down about 75%.
Ill blame it on the big bad ins company. That is how many could have fallen on my house or were already dead. Dont include the ones on the adjacent property that I dont own that could still fall on my house. With the winds last week, another 150 footer cane down – root ball and all. I also heard something else come down last night that I havn’t look for yet.
Anyways, I think I am going solar.
January 14, 2016 at 2:53 pm
Agent says:
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FFA, if I went Solar, with the incidence of wind and hail in Texas, it would be my luck to lose the roof to hail. Perhaps in the northern states, you can get away with it.
February 26, 2016 at 4:51 pm
Agent says:
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FFA, you will just have to enroll them all over again after the non-renewals come in. I am sure it will be better the next time around, right? Obama said it would and he was very excited about the success of his signature achievement (Sarcasm personified).
In other news, Chris Christie is bucking for the VP slot. Endorsed Trump. At least he is a governor who might be able to lead if something happened to Trump along the way.
Ours went up a meager 28% for the same plan, same carrier renewal!!! The article is bull and misleading. They should do an article on straight renewal increases to show how good obamacare is working. The article clearly states this is the resulting increase after the client and agent had to get creative in a search for a new plan.
Your individual plan does not mean the whole nation has the same experience. You are basically doing the same thing as an insane person who yells at the news when they show a drought somewhere because it is raining outside their house. All the data matches this.
Even taking your statement as truth, which I don’t, it could be a crappy carrier, loss history, etc. But, there is no reason you have to just accept it, you could get “creative,” if you aren’t a high risk you can find coverage cheaper. More likely you had crappy coverage–which most studies have shown to be the case w/ cancelled and policies with high premium increases–which is now much broader due to the elimination of preexisting coverage exceptions, and other similar limitations.
So many people were paying for garbage insurance that it is ridiculous. Of course they are the same ones too dumb to realize it, and are crying the most.
UW, if your comments are directed to me, mine was a 20 person group plan with Humana. Under 50 lives, so not rated on my group’s experience but rated on company’s experience. Great coverage and good price before the renewal, and I did get creative to keep the costs down so I didn’t have to raise what my employees have to contribute. I pay for 90% of the plan’s costs. If your comments are directed at me, you are way off base. My staff is the most important part of my company and I try to treat them as such. There is no crappy anything in my company. The crap lies in our current government and its leader!
Plans are not rated based on only the people in the plan. They are based on the people they insure company-wide, and the people in the plan. If company-wide they insure an aging population, as basically every place in the US does, they have to raise all rates to cover increased claims. This is the primary problem with the US population now when it comes to health care; the population is aging. Health insurance was already in a death spiral before Obamacare; it probably still is, but has been slowed. Premiums in the US will increase steadily each year until there is universal health care and the payment system is drastically changed. Individuals or companies that are almost exclusively younger, low-risk people can find cheaper coverage, but that is limited, because of the demographics in US health care, and will go away soon. None of this has anything to do with Obamacare, although people who don’t follow anything outside of Limbaugh, Fox, or standard news are not aware of that, because they don’t write about the actual demographics in the US and the problems it creates in health care.
I do not doubt the quality, or your commitment to your staff,
In Il they are. Comp rating aplies to each group – not carrier experience.
November 12, 2015 at 1:58 pm
Dave says:
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The title of the story is incredibly misleading:
“U.S. Health Care Cost Increases at Lowest Rate in Nearly 20 years: Aon”
The story has nothing to do with health care costs, but everything to do with health insurance premiums. And it only deals with health insurance premiums and little to do with out of pocket total costs. Yeah, premiums may have “moderated” but only due to increased deductibles, higher co-pays, less coverage and fewer Doctor choices. Bottom line this study is not worth the toilette paper it is written on.
Dave, AON is a joke and this article is totally misleading. You hit the nail on the head. Did you notice the statement that due to the sluggish economy, people aren’t using medical services as much. Reading between the lines, they aren’t using them because they can’t afford the astronomical deductibles, co-pays, out of pocket expenses. Employers are having to jury rig their plans and force employees to cost share much more. Gee, that is a good way to keep premiums down, isn’t it? Of course, the Individual plans are getting double digit increases in much of the country.
Its not Aon, since all other studies have similar conclusions.
Before Obamacare, annual increases were averaging 10% or more per year. Since it was enacted, premiums have still risen, but at a far slower rate. And in fact, premium increases from 2014 to 2015 are the smallest yet, less than 1% in many sectors. Additionally, the savings to our national budget (that’s right, i said savings) have been larger than expected, Obamacare is helping our economy substantially.
The above facts are easy to confirm if one is interested in facts. That being said, there are clearly many negative anecdotes. Of course the insurance companies are going to do what they can to continue to profit off our backs as they always have, and will blame it on obamacare if they can.
It does seem clear and agreed on by both parties that one thing that really is a problem is the growing deductibles, as employers are shifting more of the cost to workers. This is offset by many of the other things that ARE working well, but it seems clear that legislators on both sides of the aisle intend to address the deductibles situation.
To be clear, average costs and premiums are much slower to rise than they were a few years ago. But it should be noted that these rates of increase vary from state to state, with some states even lower, and some states showing higher increases. Perhaps Illinois is one of these. But you can hardly blame Obamacare for something a state is doing wrong. Unless you don’t care about the facts, anyway….
Nice try Hillary, I mean Fluxrider. Comparing same policy to the same policy at renewal, rates are upwards of 20%+ increases.
November 4, 2016 at 11:26 am
Deplorables says:
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Dave, if you are Chicago Dave, congratulations for the Cubbies finally getting the curse off their back. Bryant, Rizzo and Schwarber are all great and they may have the makings of a dynasty for some years assuming they can keep them together and sign the closer to a long term deal.
For all of you complaining about Obamacare, please let us know what your previous policy actually covered…rather than just the fact that the premium went up. Yes, my deductible has gone up and I do have to pay more up-front, but guess what, it covers a lot more than my previous policy did.
If I were to get cancer under my old policy, I’d have been screwed because the company would only a pay a certain amount and then I’d go broke trying to pay what they wouldn’t. Under the new policy, yes, I’d pay more upfront, but it’s still significantly less than what I’d pay on the back end previously (literally and figuratively) and then the company would cover the rest. Hey, now I don’t have to lose my house because I got sick. What a concept!
swede700 – My policy covers the same thing that it did before because my employer was already generous enough to include the things that Obamacare mandated. Sorry to hear your previous coverage sucked.
I bet there are some people out there that have coverage included that they will never use. ie birth control for men and the advanced in age.
The bottomline is that Obamacare has hurt more people (economically and possibly from a service provider aspect) than it has helped. It was a lie from the beginning and continues to cause damage.
I’m sure Obamacare is great for people that had crappy coverage or no coverage at all. But many of us who already had good coverage at a decent price lost it when the law went into effect.
I’ve posted this before, but will post it again:
I used to have awesome coverage. No deductible. A couple of co-pays, and practically nothing out of pocket. Blood work, MRIs and all other tests were covered 100%. It cost a bit more than all the other plans, but considering some of my health crap, it was worth it.
This year, my company did the private exchange thing. My ‘Cadillac’ plan is gone, and I ended up with the $350 deductible option. The coverage isn’t awful, but I’m still paying a lot more this year than I did last year for medical expenses. And it’s not just the deductible that gets me – it-s the co-pay. If they covered 100% after the deductible being met, I might not be as irritated, but only 80%? The average cost for an MRI is $2,611. I would be responsible for the $350 deductible, plus 20% of the remaining cost. $452 + $350 = $802. That’s $802 more than I would have paid out of pocket last year. And that’s not including the cost of the blood work that they have to do prior starting up the machine. I know that there is an out-of-pocket maximum, but considering I paid so little out of pocket last year, I’m not still not happy about it.
And let’s not forget the fact that the new deductible option is $50 more a paycheck than what I paid last year, for far better coverage…
BS, if you only have a $350 deductible, you are one of the lucky ones. Many people have $3,000 deductibles and $10,000 out of pocket expense. They also have limited network so they might not have the same doctor or hospital in network depending on where you are. The carriers are liking this scenario since they are limiting their exposure to claims. Many of these new plans are nothing more than “Catastrophic” care in view of a serious illness or accident. So much for the low cost plans to employees. They will probably not opt to go to the doctor as much in the future, get regular check ups etc. Is that improving Healthcare in this country?
UW, you should go back to underwriting. The cat policies are garbage. Local Providers in Network, but hospitals not or vice versa. Wait, not just the cat polices like that. Now, if your being rushed to the hospital, you have to check networks.
November 13, 2015 at 12:57 pm
BS says:
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Oh, there was a $3k ded with a large out of pocket option, but I chose to go with the lower one since it was the closest to what I had before – hence paying $50 more than I did for my ‘Cadillac’ plan. Thankfully, I didn’t have to switch carriers, so the physician network wasn’t an issue.
My previous policy had a true Stop Loss so I could budget annually my medical cost. Now…. Not. The never ending Co Pay that dont get credited to the max oop.
I don’t know where they dredged up their statistics – maybe it is from the Congressional Health plan that nobody can access. My personal rates are up 25% and my deductibles and co-pays are up. My health insurance now almost costs as much each month as my house payment and I live in California. Next thing you know, they will tell us there is no inflation either.
Another, they can put lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig. How many times and how many articles have we seen on Obamacare over the years which try to paint a pretty picture of this disaster? Reality is what is really happening to people and the horror stories from coast to coast. I don’t think there has been a time in this nation’s history where a law was passed in a totally partisan way by a party, full of graft and corruption and outright lies. That is the Progressive way and now they are screaming for the Republicans to save it or provide an alternative since it is so bad.
Another, we have been lied to for 7+ years on about every subject we deal with. What’s new? Do you believe we really have a 5% unemployment rate in this country with 94 million over the age of 16 not working? Jonathon Gruber was the architect of the lie and every Progressive Democrat including the President pushed the lie. Pelosi said they had to pass it so we could see what was in it. Obama said if you like your plan you can keep it, keep your doctor if you like him, average cost on premiums would be a savings of $2,500 for the average family.
Spouse needed an ultra sound. We pay the first $4900 per person out of pocket. Scheduled the test at the hospital where our doc operates from and called to find out that the charge at the hospital was $1300. Cost at the medical office down the street was $300. Big difference.
Maybe the reason the increases are lower this year is because of the massive increases since 2011. Since 2011, the average employee share of premium was up 23% before this year and the average out of pocket was up 55%. The expected increase this year in these two categories are 6% and 10%, respectively, which would appear to be in direct conflict with the implied message of the article and its title.
I would think reasonable people could not disagree that health insurance premiums and individual out of pocket costs have increased dramatically over the past several years. In addition, the cost curve has not been bent downward as committed to by the architects and supporters of the affordable care act. The average of $2,500 cost reduction per family, which I believe is the savings touted by President Obama, certainly has not and will not materialize.
People can argue over “what ifs” and opinions, but every conversation and debate should at the very least include an accurate account of the numbers and statistics.
Well said Buckeye. Of course, the Progressive deniers will do their worst to criticize and insult you for bringing out the truth.
By the way, what do you think about the performance of your native son at the latest debate? Most people said he had a bad night and was rude and interrupting. I suppose he is showing some desperation at this point.
‘will do their worst to criticize and insult you’ no man, that’s your style. also, it is ‘do their best’ not ‘do their worst’ – i wish i could ENSURE that you would eventually learn english
Kasich needs to drop out. He has no chance and has not represented well at any of the debates. Quite frankly, I was shocked to see him with enough support to be in the top group. Very simply, he’s too much of an establishment Republican in my view. I think he’s a good man, but simply wrong on too many issues.
Buckeye, Perhaps he will be replaced by Christie on the next main stage. Rand Paul needs to go as well. We really need to get the serious candidates down to about 5 and then we can give more air time to them. Those 60-90 second sound bites aren’t enough for policy debates. Fox Business did do a great job, asked pertinent questions and were respectful. Too bad the Progressive networks couldn’t do the same. Maybe CNN will learn something and do better the next time. They were almost as bad as CNBC at the Reagan Library.
Maybe we should put this increase into some other context. The COLA for social security this year is 1.7%. The health care increase is nearly twice that.
Wally, here is another context. Individual healthcare costs are going up in many areas to double digit with some as much as 30% increase. This article is dealing with business healthcare costs which are much less. Medicare Costs and Supplemental policies are having their rate increases as well and drug formularies are being changed and many drugs are not going to be on the list of approved drugs.
Aon’s report on rates, are like the government’s stats on unemployment 5%?. The don’t take all factors in consideration, underemployment, people leaving workforce, etc true number is almost 10% While it may be true overall costs were lower, at what cost? Employer’s cutting plan benefits, giant deductibles, etc, which are all meant to mitigate premiums increases. Like an auto policy, you can pay $1000 in premium for no deductible or $700 in premium for a $500 deductible. This report is only taking one factor in account, Premium. when there are myriad of factors impacting that overall premium, and true cost of healthcare is rising at higher rate. Look at the charts, the employees contribution from 2011 is more than 25%, of course that controls premium increase, just like my auto policy example. Or average out of picket cost from 2011 has almost doubled. The devils deal insurance companies made with ObamaCare, well its blowing up in their face.
If AON is correct, I wonder why only 26% of the people support Obamacare and only 4% think they have lower cost in out of pocket expense or premiums. This is according to the latest AP survey.
Based on the soon to be announced average increase in premiums, I guess it shows the Aon report is not worth the paper it’s written on. I guess this is why Aon is an insurance Broker, not an insurance Underwriter. If they were taking risk and providing insurance, they’d lose their shirts with actuaries such as they have.
What a joke. Is Nebr Ben Nelson, of Cornhusker Kick-back fame, involved with this? My company first started offering HC insurance in 1970. Cost was $15/mth with $250 deductible. Sometime in 2000, we moved to a $5,000 deductible. This has been our rates since 2006..
2006 $172.38;
2007 $174.93 +1.5%;
2008 $215.69 +23%;
2009 $215.69 0.0%;
2010 $239.14 +10.9%;
2011 $267.19 +10.5%;
2012 $313.06 +17.16%;
2013 $354.55 +13.25&;
2014 $377.20 +6.4%;
2015 $472.29 +25.2%;
2016 $591.09 +25.15%;
2017 $630.18 +6.6%
So is this the plan? Two years of crippling double digit increase, then one year of 6%?
Alice, I think the October surprise for 2017 will average a bit more than 6.6%. That is what leftists would want you to believe. Reality is much different.
Jeff, apparently you didn’t get the message from Obama that the average family premiums would go down $2,500. He only said it 28 times in major speeches. Since the law was passed the premiums have gone up on average of $5,000 for that average family of four. Now, we have the astronomical October surprise hitting America. It is not hard for me to believe that the Republican plan they wouldn’t allow would be better for the country.
Well, this came back to life…
Main St USA experience.
Family if 4 earning under $50,000. Premium up $1000 @ Month.
Single Female 33 yrs old. Cheapest bronze with highest ded. Up $75.00 @ month.
Reality no matter who says what. Black and white proof.
Remember on election day – This time you can keep your policy. Or Not.
FFA, before I forget it, congratulations to Chicago and the Cubs for pulling it out. One of the best and exciting 7th games I have ever seen. Both teams fought their guts out and both deserved to win, but the long suffering Cubs fans finally saw the curse broken. Chicago needs something like this since all the news about them is usually bad.
Aon is so full of it a Thansgiving turkey blushes. Not an iota of truth to anything they have said here. 600 employers is about as creditable as taking a cup of seawater at the mouth of the St Lawrence and using that to determine the ocean current in South America. Pure bogus garbage.
And it would be great to see Hewett put out a confidence factor on their study.
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What motivation did Jonathon Gruber, Kathleen Sebelius, Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer and others to lie about this to the American People?
Thanks, Obama.
Glad after all plan design changes (in other words reductions in cvg) and people being too broke to handled the deductibles & costs for health care services that the increases are slowing for larger employers (not necessarily their employees and certainly not for individuals or small employers)……. what the heck did that study actually tell us about the state of the healthcare system??
All I know is my plan design changed and I have an 18.8% pure rate increase for my 5 person insurance agency …. and that doesnt count the cost of plan design changes (pushing more costs at my employees) to keep the rates down to the 18.8% increase.
I’ll bet if I cut my employees pay in half(“their benefit for working”) they’ll drive less as well as use less health services … keeping gas consumption and pollution down … thats a good thing not mean right? :):)
Just received notice our premiums are going up 13% and the deductible is going from $4,900 per person to $5,500 per person. Ouch!
ITT Republicans with personal anecdotes
Almost all of my Ofnbama care clients are getting Non Renewals with a suggested plan to take instead. One of them has the ded going from 500 to 1750. OOP from 3300 to 5700. Co Insurance from 20% to 30%. Eliminating Co Pays to Doctors. All for a 20.33% increase in premium.
Another has none of his doctors in network.
Another called the Market Place and stated I do not want an HMO. What did the pin head on the 800 number giver her??? An HMO with none of her docs in network.
Worst Law by the worst president… A Big Fat Liar!
The stories I am getting from others….. What a joke this big fat liar pulled on everyone.
To be fair, obama is not fat.
Jack, perhaps we should revise the lying to the biggest Presidential Liar of all time. Perhaps you saw my post on another article where I listed only a fraction (27) or so major lies and Healthcare was just a small number of them.
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What does Nixon have to do with anything?
Ill retract that part of my statement…
The woman he put in as Surgeon General is fat. What an embarrassment!
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Jack, for those who have forgotten since the disaster was passed, it was also a very large tax increase built into it.
1. Medicare Tax went from 1.45% to 2.35%
2. Top Income tax bracket went from 35% to 39.6%
3. Top Income Payroll Tax went from 37.4% to 52.2%
4. Capital Gains tax went from 15% to 28%
5. Dividend tax wend from 15% to 39.6%
6. Estate Tax went from 0% to 55%. A 3.5% Real Estate transaction tax was added.
These taxes were all passed solely with Democratic votes with not one Republican vote as part of the Affordable Care Act aka Obamacare. This is why we are seeing a revolt against Democratic rule.
I get sick of jerks who write misleading and false information and then act like they have a brain. This crap was being spread by morons back in 2013 and discredited several times. I can’t blame anyone for hiding behind a fictitious name, and not wanting anyone to know just how ignorant and pathetic they were.
Hey everyone, Great news. All the above taxes will be taken care of shortly by our new Potus. Isn’t that wonderful?
Hi FFA. I congratulate your Bears for beating the Chargers on their turf. I think the Chargers may have been taking them lightly and there is a saying – On any given Sunday or whenever they play, any team can beat another. Cutler actually looked like he knew what he was doing. Where has that been all year?
By the way, this article was just as useful with bad information as the weekly Global Warming/Climate Change articles.
I havnt ben able to watch the Bears – or much F Ball for that matter. We dropped over 130 trees and I have me a date with a chain saw and log splitter on Sat & Sundays.
130 trees makes a lot of firewood FFA. You are going to have all those Climate Change freaks after you for contributing to Global Warming. The EPA is already out with recommendations to stop back yard BBQ’s. That is the first agency that should go bye, bye in the new Republican Administration. At least fire all the top administrators and pare it down about 75%.
Ill blame it on the big bad ins company. That is how many could have fallen on my house or were already dead. Dont include the ones on the adjacent property that I dont own that could still fall on my house. With the winds last week, another 150 footer cane down – root ball and all. I also heard something else come down last night that I havn’t look for yet.
Anyways, I think I am going solar.
FFA, if I went Solar, with the incidence of wind and hail in Texas, it would be my luck to lose the roof to hail. Perhaps in the northern states, you can get away with it.
FFA, you will just have to enroll them all over again after the non-renewals come in. I am sure it will be better the next time around, right? Obama said it would and he was very excited about the success of his signature achievement (Sarcasm personified).
In other news, Chris Christie is bucking for the VP slot. Endorsed Trump. At least he is a governor who might be able to lead if something happened to Trump along the way.
Ours went up a meager 28% for the same plan, same carrier renewal!!! The article is bull and misleading. They should do an article on straight renewal increases to show how good obamacare is working. The article clearly states this is the resulting increase after the client and agent had to get creative in a search for a new plan.
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UW, if your comments are directed to me, mine was a 20 person group plan with Humana. Under 50 lives, so not rated on my group’s experience but rated on company’s experience. Great coverage and good price before the renewal, and I did get creative to keep the costs down so I didn’t have to raise what my employees have to contribute. I pay for 90% of the plan’s costs. If your comments are directed at me, you are way off base. My staff is the most important part of my company and I try to treat them as such. There is no crappy anything in my company. The crap lies in our current government and its leader!
Good reply Jack and entirely accurate.
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In Il they are. Comp rating aplies to each group – not carrier experience.
The title of the story is incredibly misleading:
“U.S. Health Care Cost Increases at Lowest Rate in Nearly 20 years: Aon”
The story has nothing to do with health care costs, but everything to do with health insurance premiums. And it only deals with health insurance premiums and little to do with out of pocket total costs. Yeah, premiums may have “moderated” but only due to increased deductibles, higher co-pays, less coverage and fewer Doctor choices. Bottom line this study is not worth the toilette paper it is written on.
Dave, AON is a joke and this article is totally misleading. You hit the nail on the head. Did you notice the statement that due to the sluggish economy, people aren’t using medical services as much. Reading between the lines, they aren’t using them because they can’t afford the astronomical deductibles, co-pays, out of pocket expenses. Employers are having to jury rig their plans and force employees to cost share much more. Gee, that is a good way to keep premiums down, isn’t it? Of course, the Individual plans are getting double digit increases in much of the country.
20% + in IL with higher deds, higher Co insurance and no Co Pays.
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Nice try Hillary, I mean Fluxrider. Comparing same policy to the same policy at renewal, rates are upwards of 20%+ increases.
Dave, if you are Chicago Dave, congratulations for the Cubbies finally getting the curse off their back. Bryant, Rizzo and Schwarber are all great and they may have the makings of a dynasty for some years assuming they can keep them together and sign the closer to a long term deal.
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swede700 – My policy covers the same thing that it did before because my employer was already generous enough to include the things that Obamacare mandated. Sorry to hear your previous coverage sucked.
I bet there are some people out there that have coverage included that they will never use. ie birth control for men and the advanced in age.
The bottomline is that Obamacare has hurt more people (economically and possibly from a service provider aspect) than it has helped. It was a lie from the beginning and continues to cause damage.
I’m sure Obamacare is great for people that had crappy coverage or no coverage at all. But many of us who already had good coverage at a decent price lost it when the law went into effect.
I’ve posted this before, but will post it again:
I used to have awesome coverage. No deductible. A couple of co-pays, and practically nothing out of pocket. Blood work, MRIs and all other tests were covered 100%. It cost a bit more than all the other plans, but considering some of my health crap, it was worth it.
This year, my company did the private exchange thing. My ‘Cadillac’ plan is gone, and I ended up with the $350 deductible option. The coverage isn’t awful, but I’m still paying a lot more this year than I did last year for medical expenses. And it’s not just the deductible that gets me – it-s the co-pay. If they covered 100% after the deductible being met, I might not be as irritated, but only 80%? The average cost for an MRI is $2,611. I would be responsible for the $350 deductible, plus 20% of the remaining cost. $452 + $350 = $802. That’s $802 more than I would have paid out of pocket last year. And that’s not including the cost of the blood work that they have to do prior starting up the machine. I know that there is an out-of-pocket maximum, but considering I paid so little out of pocket last year, I’m not still not happy about it.
And let’s not forget the fact that the new deductible option is $50 more a paycheck than what I paid last year, for far better coverage…
BS, if you only have a $350 deductible, you are one of the lucky ones. Many people have $3,000 deductibles and $10,000 out of pocket expense. They also have limited network so they might not have the same doctor or hospital in network depending on where you are. The carriers are liking this scenario since they are limiting their exposure to claims. Many of these new plans are nothing more than “Catastrophic” care in view of a serious illness or accident. So much for the low cost plans to employees. They will probably not opt to go to the doctor as much in the future, get regular check ups etc. Is that improving Healthcare in this country?
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UW, you should go back to underwriting. The cat policies are garbage. Local Providers in Network, but hospitals not or vice versa. Wait, not just the cat polices like that. Now, if your being rushed to the hospital, you have to check networks.
Oh, there was a $3k ded with a large out of pocket option, but I chose to go with the lower one since it was the closest to what I had before – hence paying $50 more than I did for my ‘Cadillac’ plan. Thankfully, I didn’t have to switch carriers, so the physician network wasn’t an issue.
My previous policy had a true Stop Loss so I could budget annually my medical cost. Now…. Not. The never ending Co Pay that dont get credited to the max oop.
I don’t know where they dredged up their statistics – maybe it is from the Congressional Health plan that nobody can access. My personal rates are up 25% and my deductibles and co-pays are up. My health insurance now almost costs as much each month as my house payment and I live in California. Next thing you know, they will tell us there is no inflation either.
Another, they can put lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig. How many times and how many articles have we seen on Obamacare over the years which try to paint a pretty picture of this disaster? Reality is what is really happening to people and the horror stories from coast to coast. I don’t think there has been a time in this nation’s history where a law was passed in a totally partisan way by a party, full of graft and corruption and outright lies. That is the Progressive way and now they are screaming for the Republicans to save it or provide an alternative since it is so bad.
Correction Agent… Its the Crook County IL way. Club Fed in my neck of the wood is filled with Grey Lords & Silver Scoops…
Another, we have been lied to for 7+ years on about every subject we deal with. What’s new? Do you believe we really have a 5% unemployment rate in this country with 94 million over the age of 16 not working? Jonathon Gruber was the architect of the lie and every Progressive Democrat including the President pushed the lie. Pelosi said they had to pass it so we could see what was in it. Obama said if you like your plan you can keep it, keep your doctor if you like him, average cost on premiums would be a savings of $2,500 for the average family.
Spouse needed an ultra sound. We pay the first $4900 per person out of pocket. Scheduled the test at the hospital where our doc operates from and called to find out that the charge at the hospital was $1300. Cost at the medical office down the street was $300. Big difference.
Maybe the reason the increases are lower this year is because of the massive increases since 2011. Since 2011, the average employee share of premium was up 23% before this year and the average out of pocket was up 55%. The expected increase this year in these two categories are 6% and 10%, respectively, which would appear to be in direct conflict with the implied message of the article and its title.
I would think reasonable people could not disagree that health insurance premiums and individual out of pocket costs have increased dramatically over the past several years. In addition, the cost curve has not been bent downward as committed to by the architects and supporters of the affordable care act. The average of $2,500 cost reduction per family, which I believe is the savings touted by President Obama, certainly has not and will not materialize.
People can argue over “what ifs” and opinions, but every conversation and debate should at the very least include an accurate account of the numbers and statistics.
Well said Buckeye. Of course, the Progressive deniers will do their worst to criticize and insult you for bringing out the truth.
By the way, what do you think about the performance of your native son at the latest debate? Most people said he had a bad night and was rude and interrupting. I suppose he is showing some desperation at this point.
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Kasich needs to drop out. He has no chance and has not represented well at any of the debates. Quite frankly, I was shocked to see him with enough support to be in the top group. Very simply, he’s too much of an establishment Republican in my view. I think he’s a good man, but simply wrong on too many issues.
Buckeye, Perhaps he will be replaced by Christie on the next main stage. Rand Paul needs to go as well. We really need to get the serious candidates down to about 5 and then we can give more air time to them. Those 60-90 second sound bites aren’t enough for policy debates. Fox Business did do a great job, asked pertinent questions and were respectful. Too bad the Progressive networks couldn’t do the same. Maybe CNN will learn something and do better the next time. They were almost as bad as CNBC at the Reagan Library.
Maybe we should put this increase into some other context. The COLA for social security this year is 1.7%. The health care increase is nearly twice that.
Wally, here is another context. Individual healthcare costs are going up in many areas to double digit with some as much as 30% increase. This article is dealing with business healthcare costs which are much less. Medicare Costs and Supplemental policies are having their rate increases as well and drug formularies are being changed and many drugs are not going to be on the list of approved drugs.
Aon’s report on rates, are like the government’s stats on unemployment 5%?. The don’t take all factors in consideration, underemployment, people leaving workforce, etc true number is almost 10% While it may be true overall costs were lower, at what cost? Employer’s cutting plan benefits, giant deductibles, etc, which are all meant to mitigate premiums increases. Like an auto policy, you can pay $1000 in premium for no deductible or $700 in premium for a $500 deductible. This report is only taking one factor in account, Premium. when there are myriad of factors impacting that overall premium, and true cost of healthcare is rising at higher rate. Look at the charts, the employees contribution from 2011 is more than 25%, of course that controls premium increase, just like my auto policy example. Or average out of picket cost from 2011 has almost doubled. The devils deal insurance companies made with ObamaCare, well its blowing up in their face.
If AON is correct, I wonder why only 26% of the people support Obamacare and only 4% think they have lower cost in out of pocket expense or premiums. This is according to the latest AP survey.
Based on the soon to be announced average increase in premiums, I guess it shows the Aon report is not worth the paper it’s written on. I guess this is why Aon is an insurance Broker, not an insurance Underwriter. If they were taking risk and providing insurance, they’d lose their shirts with actuaries such as they have.
How can I get the Average yearly increase of health insurance premium in USA for the last 30 years
I wonder how everyone likes their October surprise right about now.
What a joke. Is Nebr Ben Nelson, of Cornhusker Kick-back fame, involved with this? My company first started offering HC insurance in 1970. Cost was $15/mth with $250 deductible. Sometime in 2000, we moved to a $5,000 deductible. This has been our rates since 2006..
2006 $172.38;
2007 $174.93 +1.5%;
2008 $215.69 +23%;
2009 $215.69 0.0%;
2010 $239.14 +10.9%;
2011 $267.19 +10.5%;
2012 $313.06 +17.16%;
2013 $354.55 +13.25&;
2014 $377.20 +6.4%;
2015 $472.29 +25.2%;
2016 $591.09 +25.15%;
2017 $630.18 +6.6%
So is this the plan? Two years of crippling double digit increase, then one year of 6%?
Alice, I think the October surprise for 2017 will average a bit more than 6.6%. That is what leftists would want you to believe. Reality is much different.
I didn’t see any year that the rates have gone down, what makes you think that if Obamacare is repealed it will go down?
Jeff, apparently you didn’t get the message from Obama that the average family premiums would go down $2,500. He only said it 28 times in major speeches. Since the law was passed the premiums have gone up on average of $5,000 for that average family of four. Now, we have the astronomical October surprise hitting America. It is not hard for me to believe that the Republican plan they wouldn’t allow would be better for the country.
Well, this came back to life…
Main St USA experience.
Family if 4 earning under $50,000. Premium up $1000 @ Month.
Single Female 33 yrs old. Cheapest bronze with highest ded. Up $75.00 @ month.
Reality no matter who says what. Black and white proof.
Remember on election day – This time you can keep your policy. Or Not.
FFA, before I forget it, congratulations to Chicago and the Cubs for pulling it out. One of the best and exciting 7th games I have ever seen. Both teams fought their guts out and both deserved to win, but the long suffering Cubs fans finally saw the curse broken. Chicago needs something like this since all the news about them is usually bad.
FFA, the news is in. We finally received confirmation of death of Osama Bin Laden. Yesterday, he registered to vote in Chicago.
http://www.factcheck.org/2014/04/false-tax-claims/
Deplorable, you have your “facts” wrong…spreading misinformation is shameful