Insurance Rates

[thundercleetz]

Wow that is ironic DC. Let me know what you end up deciding. I was looking at ConEdison as well. I just enrolled in the BGE PeakRewards, so that was my first project haha.

[papasmurfbell]

I ran into these.

 

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/insurance-companies-misleading-letters-obamacare

 

 

Special Investigation: How Insurers Are Hiding Obamacare Benefits From Customers

 

Dylan Scott – November 4, 2013, 5:13 AM EST| 198663

Donna received the letter canceling her insurance plan on Sept. 16. Her insurance company, LifeWise of Washington, told her that they'd identified a new plan for her. If she did nothing, she'd be covered.

A 56-year-old Seattle resident with a 57-year-old husband and 15-year-old daughter, Donna had been looking forward to the savings that the Affordable Care Act had to offer.

But that's not what she found. Instead, she'd be paying an additional $300 a month for coverage. The letter made no mention of the health insurance marketplace that would soon open in Washington, where she could shop for competitive plans, and only an oblique reference to financial help that she might qualify for, if she made the effort to call and find out.

Otherwise, she'd be automatically rolled over to a new plan -- and, as the letter said, "If you're happy with this plan, do nothing."

If Donna had done nothing, she would have ended up spending about $1,000 more a month for insurance than she will now that she went to the marketplace, picked the best plan for her family and accessed tax credits at the heart of the health care reform law.

"The info that we were sent by LifeWise was totally bogus. Why the heck did they try to screw us?" Donna said. "People who are afraid of the ACA should be much more afraid of the insurance companies who will exploit their fear and end up overcharging them."

Donna is not alone.

Across the country, insurance companies have sent misleading letters to consumers, trying to lock them into the companies' own, sometimes more expensive health insurance plans rather than let them shop for insurance and tax credits on the Obamacare marketplaces -- which could lead to people like Donna spending thousands more for insurance than the law intended. In some cases, mentions of the marketplace in those letters are relegated to a mere footnote, which can be easily overlooked.

The extreme lengths to which some insurance companies are going to hold on to existing customers at higher price, as the Affordable Care Act fundamentally re-orders the individual insurance market, has caught the attention of state insurance regulators.

The insurance companies argue that it's simply capitalism at work. But regulators don't see it that way. By warning customers that their health insurance plans are being canceled as a result of Obamacare and urging them to secure new insurance plans before the Obamacare launched on Oct. 1, these insurers put their customers at risk of enrolling in plans that were not as good or as affordable as what they could buy on the marketplaces.

TPM has confirmed two specific examples where companies contacted their customers prior to the marketplace's Oct. 1 opening and pushed them to renew their health coverage at a higher price than they would pay through the marketplace. State regulators identified the schemes, but they weren't necessarily able to stop them.

It's not yet clear how widespread this practice became in the months leading up to the marketplace's opening -- or how many Americans will end up paying more than they should be for health coverage. But misleading letters have been sent out in at least four states across the country, and one offending carrier, Humana, is a company with a national reach.

"If you're an insurance company, you're trying to hang onto the consumers you have at the highest price you can get them," Laura Etherton, a health policy analyst at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, told TPM. "You can take advantage of the confusion about what people get to have now. It's a new world. It's disappointing that insurance companies are sending confusing letters to consumers to take advantage of that confusion. The reality is that this could do real harm."

_____

Before Obamacare, Donna paid a $724 monthly premium for $10,000 deductible, catastrophic health coverage from LifeWise, a subsidiary of the state's Blue Cross/Blue Shield affiliate. She asked that TPM withhold her last name because she was disclosing personal financial information.

The Sept. 16 letter from LifeWise told her that her existing plan was being canceled to comply with the new requirements of Obamacare and that she would automatically be rolled over into a new plan that was the "closest match" to her old plan. "If we don't hear from you, we'll automatically move you to this plan and you'll be covered starting January 1, 2014," the notice read.

Under the new LifeWise plan, Donna would have to pay more than $1,000 a month, a nearly $300 per month increase and a huge hit for a family with an income around $40,000. It was bare-bones coverage by ACA standards, with a $6,350 deductible.

The letter, which you can read here, made no mention of the insurance marketplace that was about to open, where she could shop around for other options. It did mention that she might qualify for financial help in the form of a tax credit but the onus was on Donna to call the insurer for more information.

Fast forward a month, and Donna was able to log onto Washington's marketplace and shop for insurance. And what did she find? Options. A LifeWise plan with the same deductible they offered her outside the exchange was a little cheaper. Plans with a lower deductible had the same or lower premiums as the LifeWise plan. What she ended up buying was a plan through Community Health Plan of Washington with a $250 deductible.

And crucially, she also discovered she would qualify for a federal tax subsidy that would knock her monthly premium to $80. Her daughter could enroll in Medicaid, at no cost to the family.

So here's the bottom line: If Donna had taken the default option that LifeWise offered outside of the marketplace, she would have paid nearly $1,000 more per month for a worse plan than she was able to obtain on the marketplace.

A LifeWise spokesman told TPM that the Washington marketplace had done plenty of its own advertising and the company assumes that customers know they have other options. He also noted that more information was available on the company's website.

"Our experience is that our customers are already aware that they have other options in the market and that we've never had to tell them in the past that we have competitors," Eric Earling, director of corporate communications at Premera Blue Cross/Blue Shield, said. "We knew that (the marketplace) would have a robust marketing campaign for themselves and knew they didn't need any additional help from us."

As a result of the letter LifeWise sent to Donna and other customers, state regulators in Washington issued a consumer alert on Sept. 19, warning residents about the misleading information. "Don't just take what your insurance company says, make sure you shop around. You have the right to buy any plan inside the new exchange or in the outside market," Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler said in the alert.

But the agency doesn't have the statutory authority to stop LifeWise from sending the misleading letters, a spokeswoman told TPM. The company controls one-third of the state's 300,000-person individual health insurance market -- leaving a lot of people at risk of being duped.

"Yes, that's possible," Stephanie Marquis, the spokeswoman, said when asked if some Washingtonians could be paying much more for insurance than they could if they went on the exchange because of LifeWise's actions.

"One of our concerns has been that people don't know they have these new rights," Marquis said. "The insurance companies can manipulate or withhold that information to increase their market share. It's just really disingenuous."

_____

Donna's experience isn't an isolated incident, however. And the wider spread the issue is, the likelier it becomes that some people have been manipulated into spending more for insurance than they should.

Kentucky fined Louisville-based Humana for sending out letters with similarly misleading information to customers in that state. They received complaints about an Aug. 21 letter that pressed customers to renew their policy now or risk increased rates under Obamacare.

But like LifeWise, Humana downplayed the fact that people could search the marketplace for other insurance options or that they might qualify for Obamacare's financial assistance, state insurance commissioner Sharon Clark, pictured, told TPM in an interview. A footnote referenced the "open enrollment period" that started Oct. 1. Humana directed customers to their website for more information about the marketplace, but offered no further explanation.

After receiving the letter, which you can read here, some customers were badgered through phone calls to make a decision, Clark said. Of the 6,500 people who received a letter, 2,200 actually responded and gave the company their answer before they had a chance to look at what the Kentucky marketplace had to offer

But Clark's office soon stepped in. They fined Humana $65,000 for the "misleading" information, and the 2,200 respondents were released from their obligation to Humana and freed to shop for insurance through the Obamacare marketplace starting Oct. 1.

The most troubling part of the Humana case is that the company was pushing customers into a Humana insurance plan that was more expensive than the plan Humana was selling on the Obamacare marketplace, without the financial help available under Obamcare.

Clark gave the example of a single mother with children who was urged to sign up for a Humana plan with a monthly premium of $719.86. That price is higher than any comparable plan for sale on the state's insurance marketplace, Clark said -- not to mention that the mother might have qualified for tax subsidies to help pay for it if she went through the marketplace, as Donna did.

"People don't think about insurance every day," Clark said, "and in an environment with so many changes, this has been a period of confusion and uncertainty for people."

Colorado regulators also received complaints about a similar Humana letter, dated Aug. 28 on a copy obtained by TPM, that went out to 3,400 customers in their state.

It explained options available on the Obamacare marketplace and financial help in, again, a footnote. The company wasn't fined as it was in Kentucky, but state officials forced Humana to send out an apology and a corrected letter that met the state's standards.

"The letter appeared threatening," Vincent Plymell, a spokesman for the state insurance department, told TPM. "You've got to let people know their options. You can't make it seem like they have to stick with your company."

State officials in Missouri also told TPM that they have received complaints about misleading letters from Humana and were in the process of investigating them.

Asked by TPM about the Kentucky letter that resulted in a fine, Humana senior vice president for corporate communications Tom Noland offered the following statement via email, but declined to comment further.

"In retrospect, the letter could have been more consumer-friendly and we've rewritten it with that in mind. We are continuing to work closely with the Department of Insurance to ensure our messaging is clear and not adding confusion to consumers during this period of adjustment and transition."

Clark, the Kentucky insurance commissioner, told TPM that Humana executives had told state officials that there had been "a major disconnect" between the marketing and government compliance arms of the company.

"That was the excuse they gave us," she said. "That was the rationale."

"This is a great example of the kind of consumer abuses that are typical of the insurance industry, and they're supposed to stop under the ACA," Ethan Rome, executive director of Health Care For America Now, a pro-Obamacare advocacy group, told TPM. "In this case, they're trying to get in just one more abuse."

 

 

 

http://www.mediaite.com/online/cbs-news-obamacare-victim-now-calls-losing-health-plan-a-blessing-in-disguise/

 

CBS News’ Obamacare ‘Victim’ Now Calls Losing Health Plan a ‘Blessing in Disguise’

When Dianne Barrette appeared on CBS This Morning last week, she instantly became the poster child for all of those Americans whose insurance companies are terminating their plans due to the higher standards dictated by the Affordable Care Act. Now, in an interview with The New Republic, the 56-year-old Florida resident admits that losing her existing health insurance plan my not be so terrible after all.

Mediaite’s Tommy Christopher debunked much of CBS News’ reporting in a column that called the segment “misleading” and revealed the details of Barrette’s bare bones insurance plan. “The plan that Barrette paid $54 a month for is barely health insurance at all,” Christopher wrote. ‘It’s part of a subset of insurance that Consumer Reports calls “junk health insurance” (and which even the company that sells it recommends that customers not rely solely upon) and it pays only $50 towards most of the services it covers.”

The New Republic’s Jonathan Cohn, who cites Christopher’s article as an initial source in his piece, takes this approach one step further by extensively outlining the variety of plans likely available for Barrette under Obamacare. He concludes that given her income, the cheapest plan available for Barrette after federal subsidies are subtracted would cost around $100 per month, or just $50 more than she was paying before and would protect her from bankruptcy, something her old plan did not do. For $150 per month, her coverage would be significantly more comprehensive.

When Cohn explained these options to Barrette, she responded: “I would jump at it. With my age, things can happen. I don’t want to have bills that could make me bankrupt. I don’t want to lose my house.” Whereas on CBS Barrette explained how “happy” she was with her current insurance and asked “Why do I have to be forced into something else?” after learning more about her new options she’s striking a different tone. “Maybe, it’s a blessing in disguise,” she told Cohn.

Of course, as both CBS News’ Jan Crawford and The New Republic’s Jonathan Cohn both out in their respective reports, if Barrette was able to easily and successfully log on to HealthCare.gov she would have been able to discover the information about her new options without a reporter doing it for her. There are no doubt many more Americans out there like Barrette, who received termination letters in the mail, but, for now at least, do not have the ability to figure out just how Obamacare can help them get better coverage.

Ultimately, Barrette’s story does less to undermine the substance of the Affordable Care Act than to underscore how crucial it is that Obamacare’s online exchange system starts functioning properly as soon as possible.

 

[thundercleetz]

These insurance companies are no saints, I had a feeling they would try and sneak things through like this in response to industry reform. This is why I like some good aspects of health care reform, such as no lifetime limits, no barriers to enrollment, better transparency, and in theory a competitive marketplace. However there are still some potential flaws that I am worried about. For my parents, their plan was "dropped", which is understandable as companies now have to conform to new standards. I told them not to freak out but to register for the exchange, do all your research, and pick the best plan out there. Unfortunately all the plans on the marketplace that provided similar coverage to what they had were for a significantly higher premium. They do not need some of the extra benefits that are mentioned in the article above, but in effect they are having to pay for them.

 

Now I understand, like DC said when you negotiate a group rate (which is essentially what health care reform was) not everyone is going to need everything you get. The optimist in me wants to believe premium prices are higher now because enrollment rates aren't up to speed yet, and medical companies are still adjusting to device tax. Maybe in a year when this thing is more wide spread there are enough participants where premium costs are competitive and decreased. The pessisimist in me thinks there are too many outside variables the system is dependent upon and it's hard to support something that is breaking the budgets of some middle class American families.

 

Hopefully in ten years none of this matters and as a country we have a transparent health care market with competitive prices. Democrat or Republican, everyone could agree that what we had before was broken. The people voted, everything went through the political process, now we'll have to see how it plays out.

[cravnravn]

How is this legal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I was issued a home owners policy last October, our premium was 1536, which I thought was expensive as hell, but was told WELCOME TO FLORIDA..Fine we accepted that.

 

Fast Forward to Friday 11/1, we get a nasty gram from mortgage company, Mortgage has went up 145 a month... WTF

 

We call Mrtg Co, they say there was a 660 increase in home owners insurance and our escrow acct was now short, they also told us that we need to maintain a 550 so-called buffer in the account.

 

I call Ins Company, and ask them why the increase, and why no notification to ME...

 

You'll love this:

 

After further review, it was determined that 1. Im in the hurricane zone, 2.Our home is classified as a stick build, they originally thought ours was a brick home.

 

So now its back to the drawing board with calling insurance companies....sigh

[deeshopper]

I've had this happen. What I did was this:

 

Find a cheaper policy.

Cancel the insurance policy.

Notify bank to remove insurance policy from escrow account.

Submit proof of insurnace documents to bank.

Pay the premium directly to the insurance company.

[papasmurfbell]

How is this legal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I was issued a home owners policy last October, our premium was 1536, which I thought was expensive as hell, but was told WELCOME TO FLORIDA..Fine we accepted that.

 

Fast Forward to Friday 11/1, we get a nasty gram from mortgage company, Mortgage has went up 145 a month... WTF

 

We call Mrtg Co, they say there was a 660 increase in home owners insurance and our escrow acct was now short, they also told us that we need to maintain a 550 so-called buffer in the account.

 

I call Ins Company, and ask them why the increase, and why no notification to ME...

 

You'll love this:

 

After further review, it was determined that 1. Im in the hurricane zone, 2.Our home is classified as a stick build, they originally thought ours was a brick home.

 

So now its back to the drawing board with calling insurance companies....sigh

That is deregulation for you.

[cravnravn]

I've had this happen. What I did was this:

 

Find a cheaper policy.

Cancel the insurance policy.

Notify bank to remove insurance policy from escrow account.

Submit proof of insurnace documents to bank.

Pay the premium directly to the insurance company.

 

I think Im going to have the insurance unescrowed, if Im allowed to, I want to keep the taxes escrowed.

I dont know whom Im more pissed at, the Bank for allowing the insurance company to just take what they want, or the insurance company for raising the rates as they did.

 

And Im not buying the Hurricane Zone BS, all of Florida is a Hurricane Zone, If a storm hits the Gulf side in Tampa, Im going to feel effects on east side in Daytona, and if a storm hits Daytona area, the folks in Tampa will feel its effect.

[deeshopper]

Both should be blamed. Meanwhile, do your shopping online. That's how I found mine. A lot of companies now hand online quoting so you can get a sense of what's what.

[oldcrow]

they are all convicts

[papasmurfbell]

they are all convicts

Except they haven't been convicted.

[cravnravn]

Both should be blamed. Meanwhile, do your shopping online. That's how I found mine. A lot of companies now hand online quoting so you can get a sense of what's what.

 

I did, I used lowermyrates.com

[dc.]

Cleetz - I am likely going to ConEdison. Don't know when I will switch. I should probably do it soon to lock in the rate, but just being lazy while I have a very close rate locked in. I bet I will wait until next month and they'll have raised it!

 

Crav - That really sucks, but not surprising. New homeowner myself, so I am unsure about the usual practice in insurance - but I have little doubt that such fluctuations are common. Definitely seems like an outrageous bait and switch, though. I definitely recommend just changing insurers; but I personally like to keep the payment in escrow for my own piece of mind. I got semi-screwed on the escrow adjustment when they said we'd be dipping below the "minimum barrier" or whatever (which is a national law, I think). It was mostly due to rising taxes as home values are recovering, but also because of misreporting by my insurance. I got the insurance item cleared up, but ultimately have to deal with the higher escrow.

[cravnravn]

Whats heartbreaking to me is, we purchased this home with my thinking that if anything happened to me that the Mrs would have a roof over her head with no worries, now the pension doesnt cover the Insurance, taxes, mortgage and electric bill because of the increase,,

 

So far Im 0 fer 6 in lowering the insurance, this is depressing as hell.

[thundercleetz]

Cleetz - I am likely going to ConEdison. Don't know when I will switch. I should probably do it soon to lock in the rate, but just being lazy while I have a very close rate locked in. I bet I will wait until next month and they'll have raised it!

Good call. I just signed up for alternative gas (Ambit) and electric (ConEdison) providers while the rates are still good. Like you said no termination fee so it is an obvious choice to make. Thanks for the heads up on deregulation.

 

I also found out my home is in-eligible for BGE PeakRewards because of our zone heating (radiator). Like you I'm learning a lot as a new homeowner!

[papasmurfbell]

http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/blog/ocean-could-swallow-fla-beaches-everglades-sooner-expected

 

Ocean Could Swallow Florida Beaches, Everglades Sooner than Expected

Florida is the state most at risk of rising sea levels.

Floridians saw this year what happens when an abundance of water falls on the state. In South Florida, flooding and environmental damage littered the east and west coasts. Wildlife drowned in the Everglades conservation areas.

Now, experts say beaches and even the inland Everglades could be lost in less than a century, under 5 feet of water, reports The New York Times.

Ben Strauss, director of the Program on Sea Level Rise at Climate Central, told the Times, “People tend to underestimate the gravity here, I think, because it sounds far off. People are starting to tune in, but it’s not front and center. Miami is a boom town now, but in the future that I’m very confident will come, it will be obvious to everyone that the sea is marching inland and it’s not going to stop.”

The coastal counties of Broward, Miami-Dade, Monroe and Palm Beach are teaming up to find ways to save themselves. Last week, the 5th Annual Southeast Florida Regional Climate Leadership Summit took place in Fort Lauderdale to examine the effects of rising seas.

Real estate observers said that while the ocean may be rising, the real estate market hasn’t noticed. But, more than $150 billion worth of property is at risk, as it lies less than 3 feet above Florida’s high tide. Also at stake are the billions being spent by the state to restore the Everglades.

Scientists at the summit also warned that canals will also rise, making inland residents susceptible to similar problems as those on Florida's coasts.

 

I read the original times article. The insurance companies know that most of florida will be swallowed up.

[cravnravn]

Dude, we are in a drought, my lake is down 5 ft, parts are out of the water, we need a tropical storm or two to replenish the lakes around me

[papasmurfbell]

You are thinking short term. When the ocean goes up it will sink most of florida under salt water. It will also contaminate much of the fresh water down there.

[dc.]

Crav, as Papa says you're looking at data wrong. Easier example... You're in a drought and haven't had the average of say, 2in of rain per month. After 6 months, you're only at 6 inches of rain not 12. Does one massive storm w 6 inches of rain make it all better?

 

No. Sure, you'll be back to "normal" and "average" but the ground can't handle all six inches at once; most of it runs off. You're still in a drought until a true normal is established.

 

So, in reverse, does a current rain shortage mean no issues with warming, rising tides and bigger storms? Nope. Separate and far from mutually exclusive.

[papasmurfbell]

 

This is a national geographic map I saw last week. This is the worst case senario and will take a long time.

[cravnravn]

 

 

No. Sure, you'll be back to "normal" and "average" but the ground can't handle all six inches at once; most of it runs off. You're still in a drought until a true normal is established.

 

DC, thats exactly what the lakes around here are for, runoff..This is flat land country, I get goose bumps crossing the intercoastal because it has elevation to it.

 

I live on Louise Lake, they just finished working on diverting runoff water from the main street to the lake to help and replenish it.They installed a drain about 4ft round and brought in down 3 blocks to the lake.

 

My lake as well as many others house an endangered and protected species of bird, the SandKey Crane, noisy buggers, they stand 3 ft tall, they like to squawk alot..If you hit one with your vehicle you must call 911, I dont know what for, if you hit one more then likely hes dead.

 

 

As far as Florida disappearing, meh if you buy that then you bought Al Gores theory on global warming, it aint happening.

[RavenMad]

Crav, I read the article that Papa has posted that pic from. This is what would happen if all the ice at the poles melted. The oceans would rise around 200 feet. Florida doesn't survive that unless you build a 220 feet wall around it. Those rising tides would be the last of the worries though as the temperatures would be unbearable in the rest of the habitable part of the planet.

[cravnravn]

That map shows the Caribbean Islands still there, they would go a hell of alot quicker then Fla would.

[deeshopper]

That map shows the Caribbean Islands still there, they would go a hell of alot quicker then Fla would.

 

It actually shows where they will "used to be". Not sure how to type a past tense reference from a future perspective in the past.

[papasmurfbell]

Sry you don't like reality. So far things have been worse than predictions for temps over the last decade. Greenland is actually going to be green soon.

[papasmurfbell]

Though fosil fuel industry types don't want to say that it is happening. Insurance companies have seen it for quite a while. They have been adjusting their rates to account for bigger payouts. Insurance companies are not likely to get caught with theri pants down on a plan. You decided to move into the bullseye. Enjoy the weather but you will be made to pay for it.