How Is Obamacare Working Out for You?

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by Danzig

no, they could have fixed the plan, made it match the minimum requirements.

If they fix a plan, it is still a new plan. When a plan is changed, it gets a new title and a new ID number. That is basically what they did. They changed all their plans to fit the minimum requirements.

I have been with Anthem for well over 15 years. Everything was alright until the last 5-6 years. Back in 2005 I was paying around $250 a month. I had about a $2,500 deductible. Starting in about 2008, they started raising the premium pretty much every year. It went up to $300, then $350, then $410, then $470, and finally $520 in about 2011 or 2012. I finally called them and said, "This is ridiculous. You keep raising my premiums by crazy amounts. I can't afford $520 a month. Don't you have a cheap plan with a really high deductible?"

It turns out they did. They gave me a plan with a $8,800 deductible that was only $210 a month. I was thrilled. But after the ACA passed, they switched me to another plan that was $320 a month this past year. Now this year they raised it to $367 a month. I think this might be the first year that it is an EPO. I didn't even realize it was an EPO until I went to the doctor a couple of weeks ago and they told me that I have an EPO, not a PPO, and they don't take EPOs. Then I called my internist's office to ask them if they take EPOs. They said, "No." So now I don't have any doctors that take my insurance.