Company benefit changes 1/1/13...

Has anyone else working for a large company heard of the benefit changes coming their way in the new year?

We had a meeting yesterday going over some of the changes that we face and there were at least a couple of things that stood out to me that may not go over real well with the average working bloke(ette).

Now it's not really clear which of these health care changes are mandated and what are unintended consequences but it was stated repeatedly by our corporate Benefits Manager that they are all due to "healthcare reform".

The first thing that raises an eyebrow is that, for the first time in almost 30 yrs of company provided group healthcare for myself, it will no longer a set premium for all based on policy choice and coverage. Now my premium will be based on policy choice and coverage plus ZIP CODE and SALARY/WAGE. WTF?!?!

Is that premium price better or worse than what I currently pay? I couldn't tell you. Those numbers won't be available until Nov. 14 and I'll have 2 weeks to choose a plan/policy. I guess that if I don't like the numbers that I see then I could always opt-out. Oh, wait a minute...

The other thing that seemed kinda fishy is that, effective 1/1/13, if I have a spouse or dependent that I wish to cover but they are also eligible for coverage by their own employer then I must pay an additional $38/mo. SURCHARGE to add them to my policy (this is in addition to the increased premium for spouse or family coverage). This was explained off as trying to offset the difference of not paying the full employee-only rate being offered by the other employer. WTF?!?! Is that how we are financing this boondoggle?

These were just the 2 biggest things that stood out to me after yesterday's meeting. The worst part was that our own corporate benefits manager, when pinned down on specifics, admitted that he/they are still trying to learn all this stuff and that he would have to dig much deeper to try to find answers to some of our questions.

 

My HR has explained for the past 2 years that we will not lose our healthcare benefits when Universal Healthcare is fully installed. We just had our open enrollment period and no reduction in benefits again this time (the big hit was in 2009). There are no promises beyond this cycle though. We've all seen the company provided numbers and by those the company will save money by killing off healthcare benefits and paying the penalty. We'll see.

 

We just went through some of the same stuff....


There are a lot of unknowns for companies going into the next couple years because of the healthcare reforms, and none of the options are going to result in cheaper healthcare, or even the semblance of cost controlled healthcare from what I can see.

 

Prices going up and the list of what insurance will cover is going down.

 

Thats what I am seeing too. Its a shame to see that there are still alot of people who do not understand the screwing that Obamacare is going to give those who are productive.

 

Not much changed for me. monthly premiums went up $5-10, coverages haven't changed.

 

The company I work for seems to be waiting until after the election before they drop the cost increase bomb on us

 

Enjoy your private health insurance mandate/Obamacare.



People get the shitty government/laws that they ask for. :down:

 

Bonnie and I have a 6k deductable insurance plan. Premium went up 18% 11/11 and 23%this year. No claims...I'm about ready to place all my assets in a trust and claim im broke so I can get free shit too because being honest and planning ahead isn't paying off.

 

I just did my 2013 enrollment. I chose a high deductible plan last year. This year, my portion of the cost went up 24.4%. The companies portion went up 31.1%. The "normal" PPO coverage plan didn't go up as much, but still went up greatly.

Thank you "Affordable Healthcare Act".

Oh yea, don't forget about the social security tax reduction that expires in January. Both Dems and Repubs have said they will let that expire and the rates go back to where they were 2 years ago.

Between those two my bottom line will be hit about $150 per month. Not a huge amount, but $150 is $150. That's more than I spend on gas to get to work in a month.

 

When they were hyping cheaper health care, they didn't mean for people like you who are "fortunate" enough to work and be able to act responsibly.

Meanwhile, I'm seeing predictions that the number of uninsured Americans will be higher under OBC due to disincentives built into the mess.

 

It's Bush's fault!

 

I could be completely wrong on this since I don't pay attention all that much, but I thought I heard that there was a fine if you DIDN'T have health insurance?

 

Paying the fine is lower than the cost of insurance premiums.

 

The fine is based on your income, and how many years you go without insurance. But what's the point, there is no pre-exsiting condition clauses so all you have to do is not have insurance, pay the penalty and when you get seriously sick buy insurance. The ER waiting rooms will be like a food court with the insurance companies setting up kiosks to sell you insurance when you walk in.

 

Jan 1st the Social Security withholdings tax holiday will expire. Workers will pay 6.2% of their earnings, up from 4.2%.

Dems and Repubs both have no interest in extending it, so its coming. :down:

 

You guys are getting mad at the wrong people (or at least not at all the people you should be mad at). Yes, insurance companies and our lovely government are to blame for a portion of this mess, but even more so are the healthcare industry, and the personal injury lawyers responsible for a phenomenon knows as "defensive medicine".

There is absolutely NO attempt by anyone in the system to reduce costs for the patient unless the patient has already been declared indigent. If you have insurance or qualify for aid, you can bet your ass that the hospital/clinic will run every single test, scan, procedure they possibly can on you, then they'll refer you to a specialist who will do many of the same things over again just to rack up the bills. There is an entire industry of coding specialists who are trained to get every single penny out of the government and insurance company. It's a huge racket but because of the healthcare lobby and this ridiculous idea that the more we spend on healthcare the healthier we'll be, nobody does anything about it.

 

Response to these two points as I have encountered these myself.

To your first point, employers and insurance companies are placing blame on affordable health care act. Meanwhile, most of the substantive conditions of Obamacare don't go into effect until 2014. Try and figure that one out.

To your second point, the spousal surcharge is nothing new. I currently pay $25 PER PAY to include my wife and her kids on my plan because her employer offers a plan that we aren't using. It was still cheaper to put them all on my plan though.

I got another one for you, I'm part of a high deductible plan with an employer contributed HSA. As a condition of the HSA we HAVE to participate in a company-sactioned wellness program otherwise the company doesn't have to contribute to the HSA. Every month I have to record points I've earned by the number of exercise activities, eating habits, preventative care visits. Next year my wife has to participate in it too. It's a joke, mostly all based on honor system. But it does make me wonder about the people standing outside smoking and whether or not they are honest on theirs.

 

You'll have an opportunity to help repeal, at least in part, the BS that's led to these changes in less than two weeks.