Congrats to markandles! You're the winner! Just reply to suzanne@texags.com to claim your prize. Here's his winning answer:
"$300 a month for family for worse insurance. My policy I had was deemed illegal. Funny, I was told over and over I could keep my insurance."

From TexAgs Sponsor, Take Command Health:

Win a $100 Amazon gift card from Take Command Health. It's super easy to enter.

Step 1 - Consider these facts:

• 7/10 people who auto-renewed their health plan could have found similar or better coverage at a lower price
• 8/10 people choosing a new health plan will spend over $500 more on health expenses this year than they need too because they misunderstood their plan or were upsold by a broker
• If your company cut back on the amount they pay for your family, you could save by moving them onto their own plan.
• COBRA is almost always more expensive than plans available on the public and private marketplaces
• 2015 is going to be a great year because we hired "the Chief".

Step 2 - Tell us how much your health premiums went up in 2015. Post in the thread below and we'll enter you for a chance to win.

Step 3 - Do something about it! Even if you just signed up for a plan, you can still change plans for any reason before February 15th.

Take Command Health helps you shop smart and make sure you're getting the most out of your health dollars. In just a minute or two, we can help you quickly search plans from all the major companies (on and off the exchange) to see which cover your doctors, prescriptions, and conditions at the lowest cost. Having a baby? Diabetic? Completely healthy? We use a first-of-its-kind (I built it in grad school) database to help you get the best deal. Easy. Awesome. Completely free.

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Thanks!
Jack Hooper '06
aka AgAttack aka Take Command
www.TakeCommandHealth.com

What is the minimum number of employees that you need as a small business owner? (can you be a single or 2 person LCC and get into a group plan)

Mine went up $44

State employee with no kids, still zero. Did I win?

Increased $52 for the year. Benefits stayed the same

Up 25 a month.

Benefits got much worse.

Went up $35, benefits the same.

I have a family of 4 and my premiums went down by $2500 per year. I was able to keep my doctors and my plan. I also like my end of life counseling that is available to me now that will give me pain pills to deal with my death if the treatment is too expensive. Some of my neighbors have lost their jobs or been cut to part time status because their companies couldn't afford to offer them health insurance, but that's fine with me. I got mine.

Slightly unusual case here... my company did away with my old health plan and is now offering a high-deductible plan + HSA option. My monthly premium is now actually a few dollars lower ($16 less per month than last year), but I have to contribute $1,000 to the HSA this year. So, even though that HSA contribution is my money, I'm still out $75/month versus last year.

Up $30/month.

I liked my plan but I couldn't keep my plan.

$15.00/month

$10/month higher but company made me drop wife from plan. She got her own plan at her employer. All in all, about $400/month more

benefits a little worse too

Thanks BO

My insurer has bailed out of the Texas market. Still dragging my feet on getting new insurance, but what little I have looked around, I expect mine to go up 150 to 200 per month.

Up about 3 dollars.

Up 3%

Individual policy for my family of four
Premium up to $593 from $517 monthly
Deductible doubled from $6,000 to $12,000
And if we get cancer, it's not anywhere close to being as good of a policy as the one we had and liked but we're not allowed to keep.
**** that mother****er, obama!

Up 3%.

Up...infinite percent, I guess, since I graduated and got off my parents' plan for the first time.

Mine went down a bit, on the country hc system

employee plan...went up about $20 a month

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What is the minimum number of employees that you need as a small business owner? (can you be a single or 2 person LCC and get into a group plan)

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Hey Frisco...it depends. For a 1 or 2 member LLC with no other employees the group plans are the exact same as the individual plans since there'e no difference between you and your company in the eyes of the IRS. If you are a C-corp or other structure, then yes, we should talk more. If you start to hire employees in the LLC that are not a part of the ownership, then we can help you out!

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My insurer has bailed out of the Texas market. Still dragging my feet on getting new insurance, but what little I have looked around, I expect mine to go up 150 to 200 per month.

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Hey rateface, give our service a try! We'll help you get the most out of your health dollars

I employ 21 people. I pay 100% for my employees and their families. We kept the same plan (gold level), but the company got hammered with a 17% increase.

Thanks it's an s-corp taxed llc, but I guess that doesn't matter for this.

What are you doing now? Individual plans for you and your wife + HSA? Im in the exact situation with an S corp taxed LLC. Two employees; me and spouse.

Also individual coverage doesn't seem to carry maternity in the state of TX regardless of the provider.

We are 30 and thinking about family planning. Other than save up HSA what else is there to do?

Oh and mine went up $75/month

quote:

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What are you doing now? Individual plans for you and your wife + HSA? Im in the exact situation with an S corp taxed LLC. Two employees; me and spouse.

Also individual coverage doesn't seem to carry maternity in the state of TX regardless of the provider.

We are 30 and thinking about family planning. Other than save up HSA what else is there to do?

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It's a side job for now so we get coverage through our day jobs. I would love to advertise what it is because it is Aggie licensed, but the zoo could find me and that is never a good thing. I'm sure there are a couple people that would love to expose me.

quote:

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What are you doing now? Individual plans for you and your wife + HSA? Im in the exact situation with an S corp taxed LLC. Two employees; me and spouse.

Also individual coverage doesn't seem to carry maternity in the state of TX regardless of the provider.

We are 30 and thinking about family planning. Other than save up HSA what else is there to do?

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Hi BlueLacy,

All plans have to cover maternity now. It's great for people like you thinking about starting a family. Bizarre for the 60 year old couple I just helped find insurance and they're stuck paying for it.

If you're expecting a baby and don't have any other conditions and don't take many prescriptions, you'll generally come out ahead with a bronze plan. HSAs help too because you can write off your deductible payments. You can quickly explore all these options on our website at www.takecommandhealth.com.

Let me know if you have other questions.

We pay an extra 10.00 a month.

Premiums stayed pretty much the same, but co-pays and deductibles all rose.

Mine went down.. I think I might be the only one that has said that in the last 10 years. With the exception of the caddy plans (due to the cost the government is putting on business to stop them) we saw all of our other options drop in cost. I'd guess my cost went down 20 to 30 bucks a month. Nothing substantial really.

We were bought by a very large insurance company though..... Economies of scale I guess.

Had an HSA before.

Wanted an HSA again.

Couldn't get one without my premium going up hundreds of dollars per month.

Keep in mind this is an advertising thread.

Well, for starters, my insurance got canceled last year due to ACA (thanks Obama-- if you like your insurance, you can keep your insurance---what a crock!!).
Then I signed up for $5000 deductible insurance through BCBS for more than my previous policy and paid for all Dr. visits and meds at full cost out of pocket this year.
Now this same policy is going up 28% this year (once again, thanks Obama).
Almost ready to drop insurance completely , pay the fine (tax), and just sock away the grand a month I would pay for insurance and pray like hell nothing catastrophic happens.

quote:

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Had an HSA before.

Wanted an HSA again.

Couldn't get one without my premium going up hundreds of dollars per month.

Keep in mind this is an advertising thread.

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Well, of course. But it is useful.

Mine went up ~$90/mo. Ugh.