Yet another increased bill.......
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| Mon, 08-22-2005 - 2:27pm |
Hi,
I just got a letter from anthem saying that our insurance, that we pay monthly out of our pocket premiums for (dh is self employed) , is going up $47 dollars a month!!! They say it is due to the 'rising health care costs" That is alot of money!!!! Then i thought, well this is my sign to look into health savings accounts, the ones that Bush pushed for, so i called anthem and inquired about theirs, and i came to find out that you do not get a portion of your premium put into an act. to pay for copays (there are no copays) like i thought, you have to start an act yourself and still pay a seperate premium, and it's a very high deductable and basically is catastrophic insurance. I just don't know what we will do, as it is we have over $2000 in medical bills this year even with the insurance, there is nothing good about any of this in my opinion. Does anyone have any advice or insight into what i can do?????? It's getting harder and harder to raise a family and i'm seeing increases in everything across the board and it is kind of making me nervous. I mean $2.60 a gallon for gas???!!!
thanks,
Shannon

I'm so sorry-it's miserable when those things increase. Are you a SAHM? If not, is there some type of health insurance through your work? Can you call around to different companies? We had this happen last year and I think there may be another increase this year as well. Miserable when everything has a 20% co-pay and the deductibles are high. We've visited 2 specialists, DS had pneumonia (with ER visit) and DD had an MRI and the deductible wasn't met until part-way through the MRI. I can't imagine ever meeting the deductibe in a "healthy" year. Health costa are crazy!
Taleyna
All my best,
Danni
Thank you Taleyna and Danni,
I'm going to look into the link you gave me Danni but i don't know that we qualify for that organization, i'll have to look into, i have never heard of it. I probably will be looking into other companies but it is such a headache to try to make sense of it all! I'll keep you posted!
Shannon
Danni,
About the Nase, what kind of stipulations do they have for being a small business owner?? My dh is a carpenter and right now he doesn't have a "business" going, he is just working with different guys but still on his own doing his own taxes and insurance stuff- he doesn't have any employees right now. Would he qualify to join that group? I was looking at the website and it doesn't say, but i filled out a form for more info.
Thanks,
Shannon
Hi Shannon,
When my DH joined, he was a consultant working for himself - the business was just him, no employees.
All my best,
Danni
Hi shannon!
I know it seems discouraging, but health care costs really are spiraling and $47/yr for a family premum isn't that bad, relatively speaking. I work in the industry on the group level, and I know individual is worse.
That said, Health Savings Accounts/High Deductible Health Plans are designed to be a good thing. It make consumers question the value they are getting for their health care dollar instead of just spending $20 each time they go to the dr. and them thinking that's the actual cost. People don't take nearly enough of an active role in their own healthcare.
The only problem is that one must be VERY disciplined in savings for the Health Savings Account, otherwise, you are right- you get caught short when the bills come due. But the savings is tax-free and the health insurance premiums are lower and more often than not, makes up the difference between the premiums. AND prescriptions count toward the deductible as well. Sounds awful at first, but when you think about all the copays, they can add up as well and are never "capped" whereas HSA/HDHP do have a "max out of pocket" expense.
Check out the association Danni recommended. Shop around. You are already on your way to being a wise health consumer.
Gidget