When my COBRA coverage ran out, I asked Kaiser for a higher-deductible plan, but was turned down, without explanation. I was told I could only continue my existing benefits. Ironically, I've never been healthier: I visited my doctor just once this year, and that was for a flu shot.
That's a mixed blessing, of course. I'd rather be healthy and pay more, than sick and pay less. Maybe, just maybe, the big healthcare reform legislation President Obama signed this year will help the many thousands of laid-off workers who are now struggling to get affordable insurance.
How did your monthly health insurance premiums change for the coming year? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.
You are not alone and there's no alternative I can find. Our healthcare tab increased 17% this year, pushing us to more than $1,500 a month. That's for hospital care only. Doctor visits are not covered.
ReplyDeleteWhile I admire Obama for his efforts to help bring these costs under control, he seems to have made things worse for those of us a year or two away from Medicare. Universal coverage would have been better. Opening Medicare to buy-ins by those over 60 would have made forced early retirements much more doable. Congress, of course, either didn't figure this out or didn't care.
Sadly, it is another example of how GCI's assault on old, expensive employees has put many in jeopardy of losing their insurance on the way to going broke. Callinan, Freeman and other big names are probably given insurance through age 65 by Gannett. As always, those who need it most are ignored.
I know former Gannettoids who have dropped their insurance, choosing to face the consequences if they ever need it. It's a cruel ending to many long, illustrious careers. A more thoughtful GCI would have ID'ed those over 62 with 15-plus years of service facing no chance of getting hired again and helped them bridge healthcare service. That would have been the right thing to do, but, ah....
Uh-oh. Brace yourselves. Whenever there is a thread about health insurance or other things that were work benefits, the screamers come in and wreck any chance of getting the facts.
ReplyDeleteUsually they know nothing about what they post, but that does not stop them.
According to the benefits website during open enrollment, there was no increase in premiums for our site. I find that difficult to believe. Last year, thanks to a change in available policies, my family coverage went up about 10% last year.
ReplyDeleteSince being laid off in July of 2009, I have been on my husband's health insurance with his employer. Currently $141.46 is deducted from his pay check per week for the two of us with a $45 deductible for an office visit. And no dental. My old Gannett plan was so much better, but I since then I heard it is astronomical now too. Hopefully the Obama healthcare plan will help us all.
ReplyDeleteWork for a McClatchy paper and ours went up 9.7%
ReplyDeleteI don't know what you people are talking about. My health insurance went up to $405 per month for me and spouse - no where close to a 14% increase. Family is more but no where close to $1,500. That's for BCBS PPO. Dental is a little more but didn't increase.
ReplyDeleteIn the big scheme of things I am happy I have what I have and that it is company subsidized.
Sounds like someone out there is trying to make stuff up?
@5:20 p.m. on 12/5, it sounds like the first person was speaking of a self-paid plan. I work for a small business and our benefits, if I took the family plan, would cost us $1200 a month and it's my understanding that our owner pays nothing toward the costs. That's why I pray every time there's another layoff because even with the spousal surcharge it's cheaper for us to stay with Gannett's benefits. That cost is going up for us next year because this year we were defaulted into the "high deductible" plan -- which was pretty much useless to us because as the insurance company explained it to me, they wouldn't pay a dime until we reached our $4000 deductible.
ReplyDeleteYes, the $1,500 a month is for a self-paid plan. That's all I could get after Cobra expired. My point is that GCI could have helped many 60+ former employees by providing a subsidy until age 65. They do it for many VIPs, but not for the hundreds of hardworking middle and upper managers who were let go to boost profits. GCI, remember, gets a huge discount with its group policy, so my plan is much higher for that reason alone.
ReplyDeleteWhat would it have cost for GCI to pay a portion of healthcare insurance for those over 62 with 15 or more years service? I'm not sure, but would guess it's probably a fraction of what's paid in corporate bonuses each year.
Now I may be naive, but I still believe that companies that truly value employees take these things into consideration.
No doubt, Gannett's HR folks could see the obvious impending hardships for outgoing senior employees when they put together their layoff packages. They could have done the right thing, but instead chose to look the other way, knowing that hundreds of once dedicated, hardworking seniors would be in jeopardy of losing insurance at the most vulnerable times of their lives.
The current CEO doesn't seem to have the depth to address these kinds of human issues in an ethical manner. His sidekick seems even more shallow than her so-called mentor. Good grief, have either worked in a newsroom, I mean information center?
Those who really helped build this great newspaper company valued the people (employees) who made it great. Neuharth, Curley, Quinn and others would have handled the expulsion of old, expensive employees in a much more thoughtful, respectful, dignified manner.
Current employees beware. Remain at your own peril until you can snag a job with a good, reputable company.
8:27 To clarify: Gannett no doubt gets favorable rates on the administration of its employee health plans. Blue Cross, Kaiser, Aetna, etc., pay doctors and hospitals, and collect premiums from employees. But that's it.
ReplyDeleteLike many big companies, Gannett pays for all its employee's medical bills out of its own cash reserves. The premiums you pay each month cover only part of the cost.
For example, if you had back surgery costing $25,000, and your annual deductible was $1,000, Gannett would pay the other $24,000. There's no insurance company paying that cost; it's the stockholders.
This is why our healthcare system is so screwed up. Employers shouldn't be paying employees' medical bills. We should have one single-payer system, like those in advanced countries.
I left Gannett in 2002. Have been self-employed since the 2003 recession. Insurance premiums have climbed from 900/month for me plus one dependent to the most recent increase of 140/month. Total outlay for healthy 57 yr old with no claims history plus 1 is 1740/month.
ReplyDelete