Who do you have for Health Insurance?

[DaBank]

I been with Bluecross/Anthem for 15 years?
I just received a notice that my PPO next month has a 25% rate increase, last year the rate increase was the same.
It is crazy that companies can jump the rates so much with a month notice. The same thing happened with my car insurance (Farmers) last month, about a 20% increase with no new vehicles added or tickets.
What Health insurance company offers decent rates in California?

 

[BONER]

I have Banner, provided to me through my Company.

Not sure why I pay for this shit, I've literally never used it. Not once. I don't get sick enough to go to the Doctor and I don't have a Dirt or Street Bike anymore, so I don't get injured anymore either.

 

[OldSchoolBoats]

Kaiser

 

[snafu]

Been with Kaiser over 40 years. I'm retired and buy through the cities plan, it just went from $975 to $1004 and that's just for me. The closest plan on the ACA is the Kaiser platinum at $855 (based on age) but deductibles are higher. The city also uses Atena for alternative, for me that would be $1100 HMO, or $1700 PPO.

Long story short I don't think there are any descent rates anywhere....

 

[smilemaker]

I been with Bluecross/Anthem for 15 years?
I just received a notice that my PPO next month has a 25% rate increase, last year the rate increase was the same.
It is crazy that companies can jump the rates so much with a month notice. The same thing happened with my car insurance (Farmers) last month, about a 20% increase with no new vehicles added or tickets.
What Health insurance company offers decent rates in California?

Same with me. I just moved to BlueShield Gold 80 PPO. For my wife and I it is $2100/month. $800 cheaper than my Anthem was and Anthem had $5000 deductible and zero with BS. But the answer to your question is there is no good cheap ins in CA anymore. Health or dental.

 

[johnnyC]

look at blue shield my wife ins wet down 400.00

 

[ArizonaKevin]

can't help you on the health insurance side, but I'd be happy to take a look at the cars and see if I can bring those numbers back down for you.

 

[Deja_Vu]

United Healthcare Value HMO

 

[Ziggy]

BlueShield PPO. Price hasn't changed much over the last few years but coverage percentages have diminished slightly and co-pays have gone up.

 

[DaBank]

It is just two of us in our early 40's non smokers.
Old rate was $1108 and the new rate is $1377. The plan is RightPlan with $40 copays, $500 each decuctable for name brand drugs , $7500 max out of pocket a year and 40% coinsurance for everything else.

 

[Bpracing1127]

Had kaiser, last two years in a row they had a 15% increase to us. This plan is offered through my work. I switched to united health care and it’s cheaper for a better plan through my wife’s work.

For the 3 of us on a “gold plan” we pay 850 a month

 

[DaBank]

BlueShield PPO. Price hasn't changed much over the last few years but coverage percentages have diminished slightly and co-pays have gone up.

I been on my same plan for years. The price the pervious 5 years did not go up to much but the copays went up x2 and certain coverage dropped, etc. But now the last 2 years the price keeps going up and the coverage goes down.

 

[DaBank]

Same with me. I just moved to BlueShield Gold 80 PPO. For my wife and I it is $2100/month. $800 cheaper than my Anthem was and Anthem had $5000 deductible and zero with BS. But the answer to your question is there is no good cheap ins in CA anymore. Health or dental.

I would like to keep a PPO because that is all I ever had and the rest of the plans sound like a nightmare with hoops to jump through to go to a doctor.

 

[Ziggy]

I been on my same plan for years. The price the pervious 5 years did not go up to much but the copays went up x2 and certain coverage dropped, etc. But now the last 2 years the price keeps going up and the coverage goes down.

My co-pays tripled this year .....$15 vs $5 primary care dr's and $25 vs $8 for specialists

 

[HOOTER SLED-]

Kaiser....it is what it is....

 

[sirbob]

To those that know....

I thought that each year the rates are set an you can only opt in or join between Nov/Jan1 - then you were in for the year and revisit fees and price changes the following year.

If I understand what you are saying - your company just pushed a price increase to you after the period where you could change to another carrier. So now you more or less HAVE to accept it since you can not go signup with someone else now until the next sign up period.

I have bitched about the fee increases for years but they have always been before the lock out period???

 

[SoCalDave]

Last year had BlueShield Gold Trio HMO and it sucked balls, worst Dr's in the world to choose from. Went with BS PPO this year that cost me another $72 on top of the $145 I was paying ever week but I get to choose my Dr's and I'm happy with that.

 

[HB2Havasu]

To those that know....

I thought that each year the rates are set an you can only opt in or join between Nov/Jan1 - then you were in for the year and revisit fees and price changes the following year.

If I understand what you are saying - your company just pushed a price increase to you after the period where you could change to another carrier. So now you more or less HAVE to accept it since you can not go signup with someone else now until the next sign up period.

I have bitched about the fee increases for years but they have always been before the lock out period???

I been with Bluecross/Anthem for 15 years?
I just received a notice that my PPO next month has a 25% rate increase, last year the rate increase was the same.
It is crazy that companies can jump the rates so much with a month notice. The same thing happened with my car insurance (Farmers) last month, about a 20% increase with no new vehicles added or tickets.
What Health insurance company offers decent rates in California?

As far as medical insurance goes I could be wrong but I think your fucked until 2020. The enrollment period just ended last month.

Try Wawanesa for auto insurance. As long as you have a good driving record they are hard to beat price wise.

 

[sirbob]

As far as medical insurance goes I could be wrong but I think your fucked until 2020. The enrollment period just ended last month.

Try Wawanesa for auto insurance. As long as you have a good driving record they are hard to beat price wise.

Thats my point - you can't make a change BUT its OK for them to change the terms you agreed to 3 weeks ago????

WTF?

 

[Jefftowz]

I just switched to Oscar, Anthem was $1980 a month, Oscar $925.00

It's been ok so far, they have a App and you can request a Dr. call instead of a office visit.

 

[Bullet28]

I have Anthem-Bluecross, $805.00 a month in 2018, now $1,150.00 a month for 2019. This is for me and my wife, don’t get me started on the shock of the increase, I turn 63 in August but F me running, my double hernia surgery last November cost us $5,200.00 geez. Forgot I’ve been with the same company for the last 43 years and just keeps going up.

 

[ONE-A-DAY]

To those that know....

I thought that each year the rates are set an you can only opt in or join between Nov/Jan1 - then you were in for the year and revisit fees and price changes the following year.

If I understand what you are saying - your company just pushed a price increase to you after the period where you could change to another carrier. So now you more or less HAVE to accept it since you can not go signup with someone else now until the next sign up period.

I have bitched about the fee increases for years but they have always been before the lock out period???

Personal plans are calendar year based and the annual open enrollment period is 11/1 - 1/1, employer based plans are annual but based on the date the coverage started so the rate changes are annual but that can be basically any month annually. If you were to drop your employer based coverage then a loss of coverage letter would be sent to you allowing you to purchase a personal plan outside of the annual open enrollment period within 60 days.

 

[ONE-A-DAY]

Last year had BlueShield Gold Trio HMO and it sucked balls, worst Dr's in the world to choose from. Went with BS PPO this year that cost me another $72 on top of the $145 I was paying ever week but I get to choose my Dr's and I'm happy with that.

Trio only works well if you live in Orange County, in that are the network has St. Judes, St. Joes and parts of Hoag which are generally pretty sought after.

 

[getreal]

Medi-Share

 

[ONE-A-DAY]

I would like to keep a PPO because that is all I ever had and the rest of the plans sound like a nightmare with hoops to jump through to go to a doctor.

Anthem Blue Cross no longer markets PPO plans in the personal market in California, they stopped several years ago. Blue Shield is basically the only true PPO plan left in the California personal plan market. Anthem saw the writing on the wall and bailed a few years ago. The others will leave soon as well now that there is no longer a coverage mandate. The personal plan market is in a death spiral and will implode unless either California institutes its own coverage mandate law (its in the works) or allows the insurance carriers to ask medical questions again. You cant have one without the other and expect the carriers to stay in business.

 

[SoCalDave]

Trio only works well if you live in Orange County, in that are the network has St. Judes, St. Joes and parts of Hoag which are generally pretty sought after.

I live in North OC. I had the Trio Gold plan which was administered through Allied Pacific Health Partners. Most all of the Dr’s on their list were in the San Gabriel area. Google them and they’re lucky to have a one star rating. They sucked...

 

[Cdog]

We went this route back in 2018.https://www.alierahealthcare.com Its been awesome so far. Family of four for $680 a month with better service than what we had with silver PPO's at traditional insurance in the past.

 

[ONE-A-DAY]

We went this route back in 2018.https://www.alierahealthcare.com Its been awesome so far. Family of four for $680 a month with better service than what we had with silver PPO's at traditional insurance in the past.

Definitely an option to consider. The 24 month pre-existing condition limitation is typically something that can be problematic for some people.

 

[ONE-A-DAY]

I live in North OC. I had the Trio Gold plan which was administered through Allied Pacific Health Partners. Most all of the Dr’s on their list were in the San Gabriel area. Google them and they’re lucky to have a one star rating. They sucked...

Agreed, Trio only works well if you elect St. Joes or St. Judes, its 20% less than Blue Shield's full sized network HMO and if you are using the St. Joes and St. Judes network already its a no brainer to add it in as an option as an employer.

 

[boatnam2]

2o years ago you thought well when I retire I will live on 6000 a month, couple hundred for medical and some for taxes and I'm set. Medical getting close to 2000 along with taxes a Walmart greeter in parker is looking more like a reality.

 

[HB2Havasu]

Thats my point - you can't make a change BUT its OK for them to change the terms you agreed to 3 weeks ago????

WTF?

Yeah I agree. It’s bullshit when they know you can’t change for another 11 months. It’s criminal! The whole Obamacare scam was the worst thing to ever happen to healthcare. I’ve been an independent contractor for most of the last 20 years. Healthcare costs may force me to take a salaried position somewhere simply due to healthcare costs. My wife and I pay approx $1500 a month for a dumpy plan that just 5 years ago was $400 a month. I don’t know how guys with kids are even getting by? WTF is it going to be like in another 5 years?

 

[DaBank]

Anthem Blue Cross no longer markets PPO plans in the personal market in California, they stopped several years ago. Blue Shield is basically the only true PPO plan left in the California personal plan market. Anthem saw the writing on the wall and bailed a few years ago. The others will leave soon as well now that there is no longer a coverage mandate. The personal plan market is in a death spiral and will implode unless either California institutes its own coverage mandate law (its in the works) or allows the insurance carriers to ask medical questions again. You cant have one without the other and expect the carriers to stay in business.

My plan is grand father. I belive I had it 17 years? We did receive the open enrollment letter but kept our plan. Now I receive a 24.8% rate increase.
In your opinion should we just keep the PPO ? If we wanted to change would we have to wait till next year? We are both self employed and our insurance policies are personal and we are in our early 40's and none smokers.

 

[rrrr]

.

Vote for Kamala Harris 2020! She says she's gonna fix everything, just like Obama did.

.

 

[ONE-A-DAY]

My plan is grand father. I belive I had it 17 years? We did receive the open enrollment letter but kept our plan. Now I receive a 24.8% rate increase.
In your opinion should we just keep the PPO ? If we wanted to change would we have to wait till next year? We are both self employed and our insurance policies are personal and we are in our early 40's and none smokers.

The GF plan should be compared against Blue Shield, however typically the rates on GF plans can’t be beat on comparable coverage plans because among other things those plans don’t have the 17% of taxes added in like all of the “Affordable” Care Act plans do. And yes you can’t make any changes until 2020 at this point. If you are a business owner and have at least one “non owner” on payroll then we could look into group plans as an alternative.

 

[sirbob]

I hear you - I'm in the exact same situation. Ours was raised from 1850 last year to 2100 this year. Another huge increase AND all my co pays went up.

Yeah I agree. It’s bullshit when they know you can’t change for another 11 months. It’s criminal! The whole Obamacare scam was the worst thing to ever happen to healthcare. I’ve been an independent contractor for most of the last 20 years. Healthcare costs may force me to take a salaried position somewhere simply due to healthcare costs. My wife and I pay approx $1500 a month for a dumpy plan that just 5 years ago was $400 a month. I don’t know how guys with kids are even getting by? WTF is it going to be like in another 5 years?

 

[DaBank]

Yeah I agree. It’s bullshit when they know you can’t change for another 11 months. It’s criminal! The whole Obamacare scam was the worst thing to ever happen to healthcare. I’ve been an independent contractor for most of the last 20 years. Healthcare costs may force me to take a salaried position somewhere simply due to healthcare costs. My wife and I pay approx $1500 a month for a dumpy plan that just 5 years ago was $400 a month. I don’t know how guys with kids are even getting by? WTF is it going to be like in another 5 years?

I agree

The GF plan should be compared against Blue Shield, however typically the rates on GF plans can’t be beat on comparable coverage plans because among other things those plans don’t have the 17% of taxes added in like all of the “Affordable” Care Act plans do. And yes you can’t make any changes until 2020 at this point. If you are a business owner and have at least one “non owner” on payroll then we could look into group plans as an alternative.

So if I cancel my insurance I would not be able to purchase new insurance?
If so how is that fair that they raise the price by 24.8% one month after open enrollment?

 

[K-DOG]

Wife works for Kaiser so its all free.

 

[DaBank]

I just read the cover page. Looks like I have till Apirl 1st to change my plan. So does this mean I can go with a new company or just change plan with Blue Cross?

 

[ONE-A-DAY]

I just read the cover page. Looks like I have till Apirl 1st to change my plan. So does this mean I can go with a new company or just change plan with Blue Cross?

The renewal increase letter from Anthem will suffice as a qualifying event with Blue Shield allowing you to change mid year. Blue Shield is basically the only other option out there for anything non-HMO.

 

[HBCraig]

Blue Cross PPO

 

[napanutt]

Wife works for Kaiser so its all free.

Same problem I have.

 

[ONE-A-DAY]

Same problem I have.

Same here For a family of four with dental its north of $3000 a month for the level of plan provided, its a huge employee benefit that is pretty rare these days.

 

[RitcheyRch]

Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO through work

 

[oldschool]

Aetna with ASI.

 

[Cobalt232]

Blue Cross PPO. $2500/mo. for family of 4. Mid 50's and two kids in early 20's. Goes up 15%-19% every year.

Had a hernia fixed last year. The first thing after answering the phone at the surgeon's office was what kind of insurance. Blue Cross PPO = good to go. Blue Cross HMO or through Covered California = no go.

 

[DaBank]

The renewal increase letter from Anthem will suffice as a qualifying event with Blue Shield allowing you to change mid year. Blue Shield is basically the only other option out there for anything non-HMO.

How is Blue Shield compared to Anthem?

 

[ONE-A-DAY]

How is Blue Shield compared to Anthem?

Case by case basis if it’s a better deal. Blue Shield is the only PPO still available in California personal plan market.

 

[DaBank]

Case by case basis if it’s a better deal. Blue Shield is the only PPO still available in California personal plan market.

Does Anthem have other PPO plans still or I would have to drop down to a HMO to stay with Anthem.

 

[Hardly Satisfied]

Kaiser

 

[ONE-A-DAY]

Does Anthem have other PPO plans still or I would have to drop down to a HMO to stay with Anthem.

They only have EPO and HMO plans now.