Dreamsglore wrote:I want Obamacare and the politicians are not exempt from it. There are few people on this forum that really know what it is about. I am keeping my same health insurance as are millions of other people. Mine has not gone up one iota and the people who's policy has can go on the exchange and barter for another one cheaper. Simple as that.Competition.
I just saw this today in the Gulf Breeze news.
Insurance rates stun school employees
By Pam Brannon Gulf Breeze News news@gulfbreezenews.com
Insurance is a major challenge for individuals, families, and businesses these days – and could prove to be even more challenging in the next few years. This year employees of the Santa Rosa County School District found their coverage and premiums will be changing for the 2014 school year, with some premiums going up a lot and some going down a lot – depending on which coverage options the employee chooses. “For 2013 we offered four plans for employees to choose from. But for 2014 we will only offer two choices, which we realize makes many families have to make some maybe difficult decisions for next year,” said Karen Retherford, Santa Rosa County School District administrator overseeing employee insurance.
Retherford explained that the school district has an insurance committee that looks at insurance options and costs each year. The committee is made up of 10 employees of the district, including teachers, bus drivers, educational support – both white collar and blue collar representatives. “They review plans and make recommendations to the school board each year,” she said.
This year the district decided to go out for bids for insurance coverage for their employees. She said the recommendation from the committee to the board was to go with Florida Blue, which was formerly Blue Cross / Blue Shield.
“Currently, for 2013, we offer four programs – two PPO’s and two Health Savings Accounts with higher deductibles. But for 2014 we are reducing the number of plans being offered to our employees from four plans to two, with one PPO plan and one high deductible HSA plan”., Retherford said. “For 2014 we will have an increase in premium costs of 7.48 percent, which is the lowest premium increase I have seen in the none years I have worked here. We were very pleased with such a low premium increase.”
With the HSA (Health Savings Account) plan the employee receives a debit card so health costs can be deducted directly from the account – it is not a reimbursement account, as some companies are now offering their employees. There are higher deductibles than with the PPO accounts.
The school district will also contribute to the Health Savings Account each year $1,000 for the single filer, and $2000 for the family plan HSA. “If the employee does not use it during the year, that money rolls over to the next year, when there is another $1,000 or $2,000 added again. And if they leave the school district, the money is theirs to use whenever – it goes with them,” Retherford said. “That will be an increase for the family plan HSA, since this year the board contributes $1500 instead of $2,000.”
“The biggest issue the insurance committee and school board was concerned about was that the district be paying each employee the same amount toward their insurance,and they realized that has not been happening.” she said. “The PPO coverage costs more, for both the district and the employees, so the district ends up paying more to those who choose to go with a PPO instead of the HSA. That did not seem fair to the employees who decided to go with the HSA. The committee basically said why pay some employees $3,800 more a year because they decide, on their own, to pay for the PPO plan?”
Next year the single filer who goes with the higher deductible HSA account will pay $26 a month. Since the entire premium cost for that person is $404.16, the district will pay the rest. Then if that employee will do an annual Biometric screening and a completion of a health assessment, the district will give the employee a $20 discount certificate, so the employee will pay $6 a year.
The family HSA plan total premium will be $1006.52, with the employee cost being $352 – with no restriction on how many children in the family are covered. The district will pay the remainder $654.52 per family.
For PPO’s, however, there is no account set up for an annual contribution from the district. “Since we are paying $1,000 for single filers and $2,000 for family plan holders in the HSA accounts, the committee wanted to make it fair for PPO account holders, too. So they broke down what the annual contribution for HSA accounts would be per month, and the PPO filers will get an additional $166.67 per month contribution – in addition to the per month premium fees they pay – to the PPO accounts.”
The increase in the PPO premiums will go from $1646 total premium currently, to $1769.97 next year for family plans, and the single filers total premium would go from $527.79 to $567.29.
So for 2013, with the family plan PPO accounts the employee’s cost is $723.09 and the district pays $923.64.
Gulf Breeze High mat teacher George McCormick sent an email to his fellow teachers last week in response to the district’s latest memo concerning the change in insurance next year. He wrote: “For over 40 years, I have fortunate to be able to participate in a traditional Blue Cross/Blue Shield Hospital Insurance Program in several states including Santa Rosa County, Florida.
The email we got yesterday basically means most teachers and staff will no longer be able to afford the basic PPO plan most of us have used for years. My particular plan increased from $339 a month to $678, a 100 percent raise in one year starting in January. Since my wife works in Santa Rosa County, we have the two employee family plan. However if your spouse does not work in the county, your month rates just went up to a skyrocketing $945 a month next year or $11,340 a year which most teachers and staff cannot afford. If an average staff member brings home about $1500 a month and an average teacher brings home about $2500 a month after taxes, you would be paying almost about half or more of your salary for your basic PPO plan you had last year.”
Retherford said the union contracts with both teachers and blue collar workers in the district require the school district to pay 94 percent of the total premium cost for single insurance filers, and 65 percent of the premium for the family plans. If there are two employees in a family working for the school district, the contract says the district will pay 92 percent of the family’s total premium.
“It is tough for insurance companies to even give us a cost in a bid because we have to guess how many employee will pick each plan,” Retherford said. “if we only have two plans instead of four being offered, it is easier to get those bids.
“Our board’s share of the insurance costs for its employees is about $11.7 million for 2013. For 2014 it looks like the cost to the district to pay the premiums
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