Home > Uncategorized > Is Blue Cross hiking your health insurance premiums?

Is Blue Cross hiking your health insurance premiums?

Post on February 10, 2010 by Adam Linker 81 Comments »

Here at the Justice Center we are insured by our good friends at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. This year our premiums are going up nearly 20 percent.

Lawmakers are questioning Anthem Blue Cross out in California for increasing premiums by as much as 39 percent on individual and small group policy holders. I’m wondering if Blue Cross of North Carolina is engaged in similar price gouging.

So let me know how much your premiums are increasing this year. All insurance carriers are fair game but I’m most interested in Blue Cross. This can be for an individual policy or group. You can either leave a comment or email me at adam.linker@ncjustice.org. Emailers will remain anonymous unless you want your name used. Ask your friends and family. Let’s see if this is an isolated event or a national pattern.

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Comments (Closed):59

James
February 10, 2010 at 1:51 pm
We’ll help dig up the facts … thanks for writing this.
Joseph Coletti
February 10, 2010 at 2:56 pm
Switch to a high-deductible plan with health savings account (HSA). Premiums are lower and grow less rapidly. About 1% in my case.
Licia
February 10, 2010 at 2:57 pm
We have BCBS Blue Advantage. Hiked our prems. 60.00$ per month.
Adam Linker
February 10, 2010 at 3:00 pm
Thanks — what’s the percentage increase on that?
Helen
February 10, 2010 at 3:04 pm
I will be 75 next week . Anthem Blue Cross just hiked my premiums 31%! That’s my Medigap. Where does one go? And, how much is the CEO making?
Adam Linker
February 10, 2010 at 3:06 pm
We’re not sure yet how much the new CEO is earning. The previous CEO made $4 million per year.
MikeNC
February 10, 2010 at 3:39 pm
How much did the hospitals increase their charges? More than a measly 20%, try 2000%. When our premiums go up 2000%, hopefully, we will focus on the problem; The contracts between hospitals and insurance companies should be transparent.
Adam Linker
February 10, 2010 at 3:41 pm
The contracts should be transparent — true enough.
susan
February 10, 2010 at 3:50 pm
Group policy. Premium increased from $356. to $403. this year.
ThackerAgency
February 10, 2010 at 4:06 pm
I used to be a top insurance agent for Blue Cross. They were the only good plan in the late 90′s and early 2000′s because they had the lowest rates and the best benefits.

Since then, in my opinion they abused their near monopoly with the Blue Advantage by raising rates.

Now there are several other very good plans available that I offer at my website. I personally have the Coventry One plan that has nearly identical benefits to the Blue Advantage but costs less.

If you want other types of plans and save money by giving up some benefits, quality plans are available from Celtic or Assurant and even United Health One.

I don’t mean to sound like a commercial, but if you think you are paying too much, contact your local agent or check out quotes at my website http://www.thackeragency.com.

Thank you.
MikeNC
February 10, 2010 at 4:23 pm
Do not buy insurance through a broker. All they do is take a cut of your premiums. We need less middlemen in this industry.
ThackerAgency
February 10, 2010 at 4:39 pm
MikeNC, that’s not true. It costs you the same if you go through a broker as it is if you go directly through the company. If you call a company, you won’t get competitive quotes like you would if you called a broker. If you call the company directly, they will only quote you one company’s plan, take it or leave it.
ThackerAgency
February 10, 2010 at 4:43 pm
In fact MikeNC, one thing Blue Cross did recently to maintain their market share (as opposed to making their products better) is they forced agents to become ‘exclusive’ agents for Blue Cross of NC.

My dad started representing them in the mid-70′s. He and other loyal agents never needed an ‘exclusive contract’ until competition came out.

You can thank brokers for keeping Blue Cross honest by offering other alternative good plans that are approved by the NC Department of Insurance. If it weren’t for these competing plans, your Blue Cross rates would be 50% higher than they are now.
HunterC
February 10, 2010 at 6:04 pm
By gosh, that Joseph Coletti fellow is a miracle-worker!

OMG! If I just lower my benefits it will lower my premium?

Switch to a high-deductible plan

Why haven’t groups been doing that for the past 10 years?

Oh, they have.

Deductibles of $7500 may mean nothing to Mega-bucks Coletti, but to those who make closer to the average salary in NC, $7500 means something – perhaps a single medical event from financial ruin.

And that is setting aside chronic conditions, or even short-term Rx needs.

Glad you can suck up an even higher deductible, Monty Burns Coletti. The rest of us can’t keep doing it.
AdamL
February 10, 2010 at 7:49 pm
I too appreciate the advice from Broker Coletti. He’s correct that if you have no serious health problems then an HSA is an excellent tax shelter. If, however, you have MS the calculation is quite different.
Karen
February 10, 2010 at 8:17 pm
25% increase for a BCBS Blue Advantage plan with $1000 ded.
AdamL
February 10, 2010 at 8:36 pm
Yikes.
concerned
February 10, 2010 at 10:17 pm
If Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield could justify these rates, it would be different. However, they reported record profits just last quarter. They can’t blame it on rising costs when they are making record profits.

This is criminal. We should lock the top brass of BCBS up and give them their health care in prison. That is more than they deserve.

I am not a Democrat but it is obvious that the Republicans who gladly support these insurance companies are both hideously immoral individuals and traitors to the American people. They are accessories to the crimes committed by these companies and they should hide their heads in shame.
Joseph Coletti
February 10, 2010 at 10:47 pm
Not sure where HunterC gets $7,500 deductibles from, since the highest deductible I’ve seen in a consumer-driven plan tied to an HSA is $5,400.

The premium savings can cover part of the deductible and at least begin funding the HSA. The combined cost of premiums and deductibles in a consumer-driven plan will often be less than the combined cost of premiums, deductibles, and uncapped copays in insurer-driven plans.

People with consumer-driven plans have lower medical costs, more preventive care visits, similar treatment compliance rates, higher disease management graduation rates, and more reliance on generics for chronic care maintenance than people with insurer-driven PPOs and HMOs.

http://newsroom.cigna.com/images/56/825638_ChoiceFund_Study.pdf
Alex O'Connor
February 11, 2010 at 9:30 am
Mine does not increase until July what happened last year was the premium did not increase much since I was bumped to a lower health plan. All the out of pocket costs in some cases doubled. I spend as much as my premium every month on out of pocket costs.
Our income is half of what it was ten years ago so these increases are hard.
Stephen
February 11, 2010 at 10:03 am
For me, BCBS-NC Blue: 13% increase this year. It was an 11% increase last year.
HunterC
February 11, 2010 at 10:21 am
To accept Coletti’s amount (which is not the reality of one “high-low plan choice” I was presented with this year) for the sake of this blog argument…

*ONLY* $5,400 for a deductible?

Seriously, in what income strata is that acceptable?

Not the average wage in NC.

How out of touch is a $5400 deductible? Really.

Again, dropping benefits to get a lower premium is not the solution.

So-called “consumer driven” health care proposals are nothing more than reducing the supply of health care to reduce its cost. And that is an absurd proposition.
Joseph Coletti
February 11, 2010 at 10:46 am
HunterC, how much is your premium – whether paid by you or your employer? How much do you spend on copays, deductibles, and other out-of pocket costs? What’s the combined total?
north state politics
February 11, 2010 at 10:50 am
I have United Health and my premiums are going up 8% this year.
HunterC
February 11, 2010 at 11:00 am
I’m well aware of my options (including utilization of pre-tax offers such as MedFlex or HSAs) available to me personally and which of those plans cost me the least in dollars out of my compensation.

In my capacity on governance boards, as an employer ,and an advisor to others on governance boards, I’m also well aware of other variations/combinations of plans presented to different types of entities in NC.

The cost of a given plan in dollars vs. whether the plans actually provide benefits to the employee or any sense of health care (or even health insurance), has become my more central concern as I have seen “benefit” plans devolve to more and more meaningless “coverage” as their costs increase.

This path is unsustainable for small businesses, large businesses, non-profits, local govt, state govt, fed govt.

Redefingin tax shelters will not stop the problem.
Fee For Service Forever
February 11, 2010 at 12:33 pm
every day a baby boomer hits 50….wave after wave of um…and their bodies are breaking down.. Thars $$$$gold$$$$ in them illls……

If your a medical provider its easy to get rich cheating
Adam Linker
February 11, 2010 at 12:51 pm
Coletti — a CIGNA study? C’mon man.

Again, an HSA is a great tax shelter for the healthy. They are awful if you have MS.
Joseph Coletti
February 11, 2010 at 1:55 pm
Adam, Do you have any problems with the study’s methodology or just the pro-HSA findings? Do you have a better study that confirms your contention?
Adam Linker
February 11, 2010 at 2:03 pm
As with most insurance company studies, there is no methodology.
Joseph Coletti
February 11, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Page 4 of the report seems to give a pretty good overview of what they did. Again, do you have a better study that confirms your contention?
Adam Searing
February 11, 2010 at 3:29 pm
How about an independent peer-reviewed journal?

Health Affairs Article: Comparing the Assets of Uninsured Households to Cost Sharing Under High Deductible Health Plans

Published as a Health Affairs Web Exclusive, this Kaiser Family Foundation study finds relatively few uninsured households have enough financial assets to cover the cost-sharing in consumer-driven health plans tied to Health Savings Accounts.

http://www.kff.org/insurance/chcm041508oth.cfm
Joseph Coletti
February 11, 2010 at 3:44 pm
Sorry Adam not your ward’s point. Try again to justify his MS contention or refute the evidence of Cigna’s subscribers, which is similar to every other examination of experience.

Also it’s not based on actual experience with HSAs and does not look at traditional plans, which have 20% premium increases for some groups and can have higher cost (premium, deductible, and copay) than HSA-eligible plans. HunterC as much as acknowledged that HMOs and PPOs are a worse deal than HSAs in his evasive post.

When you find studies that either prove the MS claim or refute the experience of those with HSAs, please let me know by email.
Adam Linker
February 11, 2010 at 3:50 pm
You’re right, name calling and citing a report with a nonexistent methodology have convinced me. Thanks for the enlightenment.
Michael B.
February 11, 2010 at 4:59 pm
We switched to a Blue Cross HSA last year to save money. $5,000 family deductible and $2,500 individual. This year, we get notified our rates are increasing 31%. For 10 employees, we will pay over $50,000 per year while the employees carry $30,000 in deductibles. Absolutely rediculous. Average employee age 38 years.
Lou Meyers
February 11, 2010 at 9:06 pm
My son’s Blue Cross Blue Advantage increased 24% this year.

Enough of this nonsense — bring on Single Payer/Medicare for All!
Korarris
February 11, 2010 at 10:36 pm
I plan to switch to Kaiser next year.
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February 12, 2010 at 5:09 pm
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Tom
February 13, 2010 at 3:38 pm
They said its only affecting individual insurance. But I have a company sponsored plan at it went up 32% due to risk factor in our group. I believe Blue Cross is playing this pathetic rate increase to just increase premium. I finally opted to a High deductible one and will manage my own risk. Its sad paying $900 monthly for 3500 deductible for a blue cross blue shield plan. I know these will back fire to companies. Look at the top managements bonuses and lets put the numbers and caps on them. We need to lose these management that self serve.
nini
February 15, 2010 at 10:58 am
Just got word – NJ HORIZON – going up 28% – we are definitly shopping around !!!!!!
Marsha V. Hammond, PhD
February 18, 2010 at 12:06 pm
My healthy 3 member family started out w/ BCBSNC in 2000. At that time, our premiums, for the same coverage as now (well, we just stopped paying a couple of months ago) was under $300.

We received notice that 1.1.2010, our premiums would be close to $1000/ month w/ $2500 deductible.

That is a 241% increase over 10 years.

In 2008, our premiums were about $700/ month. That is a 41% increase.

My blog has been following BCBSNC for a couple of years now as associated w/ the difficulty of finding screening colonoscopies. Medicare patients have access to screening colonoscoopies. Why don’t we have a public option plan?

Today I called Senator Hagan’s office and talked to Michelle Adams. This is what I said: “Hi, this is Dr. Hammond calling. My healthy 3 member family cannot pay $1000/ month w/ a $2500 deduct for BCBSNC Advantage Plan. I am asking Senator Hagan to join w/ other US Senators to pull for a vote the public option and I will be calling EVERY DAY until I hear something positive from Senator Hagan’s office.”

Marsha V. Hammond, PhD Clinical / Health Psychology
BCBSNC blog: http://madamedefarge2scutinizingbcbsnc.blogspot.com/
NC Mental Health reform blog:
http://madame-defarge.blogspot.com/
dave
February 20, 2010 at 7:15 pm
My monthly payment went from $107 to $146…not including the $1156 part B withheld annually.

Medication copays increased to $75 each.
Doctors visits copay doubled. In patient hospital doubled ($350 to 700). And now I must pay 25% of all tests (even in network).
I also believe that medication “gap” increased.

My SS disability income did not increase and I do not qualify for any “relief” assistance.

However, my out of pocket costs are increased $1329 under new plan…assuming I do not get any illness other than that of my disability. Also not including additional “gap” costs.

I am in BCBS of NC Medicare PPO
Reed
February 23, 2010 at 2:30 pm
BC Advantage: 892.73 in 2009 973.73 in 2010 (+10%); Head of Household w/ 3 dependents. 2500 ded/ind
nan
February 26, 2010 at 7:46 am
The insurance companies are monopolies! They have and will continue to raise our costs to be covered in every way possible. There are many government and state run programs such as medicare, medicaid, food stamps and others, that have been around for years and no one has wanted the government to stop controlling these programs. With out government control, look what is happening here with these insurance companies; high cost, high deductibles and less care for all americans. The average american bring home pay is $500 per week to take care of a family of 3-4 and the average cost for insurance is $1500 to $2000 per month for this same family. This is absurd! The numbers just don’t make sense for the average family! If you have a pre existing condition, you are totally screwed as no one will cover you at all. There needs to be total change in our health care system and soon before any one else dies.
AJS
March 5, 2010 at 1:54 pm
9% increase for NC State Employees on the 80/20 plan (Emp+Spouse). State employees need another choice other than BCBSNC
JK
March 10, 2010 at 6:32 pm
Missouri.
3 employees in my business 37/39/23 years old. No health issues.

2500 deductible 100% coverage in network

Aetna $1300 per month total
Blue Cross $1200 per month (we tried to get a new quote)

for the 3 of us.

Up 30% this year…..
Daryl Wynn
March 17, 2010 at 9:18 pm
What have the teachers been given on a 80/20 policy for the last 15 years? It seems they had a 250 deductible
, then it went up to 350, then 450, and now it has gone up to 600 deductible for 2010/2011. As a senior citizen who taught for 36 years and just retired due to a physical disability I see why the President is trying to change the direction health care is going.
Coach
Chris
April 30, 2010 at 10:44 pm
My Copay went from 25/primary to 35/primary and 50/specialist to 75/specialist.The sorry thing is they didnt even notify anyone.I just got a supplemental bill in the mail from my last visit which applied my old copay.I think BCBSNC SUCKS,and i hope my employer kicks them to the damn curb next period.
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My healthy 3 member family started out w/ BCBSNC in 2000. At that time, our premiums, for the same coverage as now (well, we just stopped paying a couple of months ago) was under $300.
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December 14, 2010 at 9:39 pm
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