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quote:Originally posted by richfaa
Just curious. Why was the health insurance plan cancelled. Did it meet the 10 essentials?? we are told that companies that did not meet the 10 essentials could upgrade to meet them or cancel the plan. Many chose to cancel rather than meet the standards.
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My original plan was with AARP/Aetna. AARP chose not to participate and the plan was discontinued. (Needless to say, I won't be renewing my AARP membership this year.) Got on a different plan with Aetna that I could keep through the end of 2014, albeit for a bit over $100 a month more. Both mine and Dave's apparently didn't have all the wonderful extended maternity and mental health benefits now required. Dave's plan is set to be cancelled - with replacement options - in a couple of months.
Neither of us needs maternity coverage. (The policies had coverage for this, just not to the extent now required.) We do not need expanded child care benefits. We have no children under our wings.
At any rate, the monthly premiums for these plans were going to skyrocket - triple-plus - at the end of the extended coverage period (2014).
When we got these plans in 2010, they were just about $400 a month for both of us. Comprehensive plans, 80/20 coverage with deductibles we could handle and benefits we needed without the ones we cannot use. Rates typically go up every year; increases were built into our budget to handle that with the base starting point of the initial combined premiums. We would have been good to go for years in the former environment.
To be hit with a 200% + increase all at once . . . we simply can't do it. Hence, forced onto the exchange.
Don't even get me started on my opinion about all this. It's not just about higher premiums. Continuity of care, quality of care, availability of care, invasion of privacy, dictating my health care choices, the obvious issues with the Exchange, etc. . . . again, I've seen the medical/insurance world from all different aspects. What's happening . . . well, folks, it ain't pretty. And we're just getting started.
I hope I am proven wrong. I have written and spoken with my representatives - Senators on down - starting almost a year ago - to no avail. You might have even heard one of my letters during a break from Green Eggs and Ham.
I have been assimilated and am accepting it while looking out for our interests.
And yes, I'll be voting.