>Though it was promised Obamacare would reduce costs by increasing participation and competition, so far reality has been just the opposite
The health insurance cost for my small biz went up 16% from 2010 to 2011 and now that plan is being completely discontinued for 2012. The closest replacement we can get will be almost 20% more than we paid in 2011.
That’s (for 2012) now with a $5000 deductible too (for a single employee, $10,000 for family). In 2011 that was $3000/6000. In 2010 it was $1000/2500. It’s basically become catastrophic insurance, and it is pretty hard to afford anything else right now.
For 2012, we will also offer employees another plan with a $1500 in-network ded ($4500 out of network), but the cost per month is nearly $2000 for a family and over $600 for a single employee.
We will pay for the high-ded plan but anyone wanting the other will have to pay the cost diff. I sure won’t be able to afford that other plan myself– the cost on a fam. basis comes to nearly $24,000 a year, more than double the cost of the high-ded plan on same basis.
Welcome to the new world of health insurance. Though it was promised Obamacare would reduce costs by increasing participation and competition, so far reality has been just the opposite – lots more cost, less benefits, more out of pocket and higher premiums- as well as carriers simply dropping some plans entirely because they claim they lose money on them.
Meanwhile, our biz’s revenue declined during 2011 vs. 2010. We had no choice but to lay off some employees and are down to lowest staffing we’ve had in many years.
Teachers need to face the fact that many of those who pay all the costs are hurting badly.
The fact is that this year as the owner of our small biz, I’ll make less myself than what I used to be able to pay some employees, which is also less than many Ridgewood teachers make. Most of the firms we compete with have had similar experiences lately.