Holy Crap, just got my health ins. 2006 renewal rates.

[fencesitter]

A change of 23.63% increase in premiums. Thank you very much. I use Blue Cross HMO, the cheapest around here in PA. Who can afford this? I can't. Why is no-one freaking out?

[electron_blue]

1. Where have you been?

Many have had huge jacks in premiums every year for the last few years.

[fencesitter]

3. They went up every year, but

I've always been able to absorb or bite the bullet. The Bullet done did me in this time. I guess we'll have 43,000,001 w/o health insurance now.

[napi21]

2. Our renewal info is due next month. The premiums have increased

every year for the last 5 years, and the copays and deductibles have been increased as well! We also have BCBS through my husbands employer. It gets more difficult every year to afford health care.

[Pirate Smile]

4. There was a Diary on Daily Kos yesterday from a person whose

Health Insurance was canceled.

This may have some information. I think people are freaking out but it is hard to see them all inside their houses opening their mail.

My Health Insurance Was Canceled

by nyceve
Wed Nov 02, 2005 at 12:58:10 PM PDT
The headlines are now in my lap. The health insurance nightmare faced by over 45 million Americans has now hit me in a very big and very personal way. I came home last night to a notice cancelling my health insurance.

I am self-employed. I suppose I am what Mr. Bush thinks of as the backbone of our country and the economy. I work hard and play by the rules. I buy my own insurance and it is very expensive. I pay $650.00 a month. But I (and everyone else who buy individual polices from this particular company) have been cancelled.

I called the insurance broker who I have used for years and they told me they are running out of options for self-employed people like me. I must have a plan which allows me to see doctors that I choose since I have some medical issues. This is called a PPO (preferred provider organization). Is it too much to expect that in America in 2005, we have the right to affordable health care, affordable insurance and to select health care providers of our own choosing? All I can believe is that the insurance company is not making enough money on me.

nyceve's diary :: ::
Healthcare and health insurance should not be a luxury or a privilege, it should be a right afforded to all Americans.

I feel like the politicians, Republicans, Democrats, all of them, want me to die or leave the country. I do not know what to do or what to think. I want to just give up.

We are spiraling out of control in this country, my friends.

I am terrified because today I feel very much like the Katrina victims, totally on my own. Where do I turn? Should I call Senator Clinton's office? What will her staff tell me? They'll send me some idiot form letter.

I feel totally alienated from this country. Why, would someone please tell me, why do we allow this shameful situation to go on and on and on?

Last night when I received this notice I called my assemblyperson, Richard Gottfried, he is a Democrat who also happens to be chairman of the assembly health committee in the New York State assembly. Mr. Gottfried is tasked with issues such as the one I am describing. I also happen to live within his district. I was literally crying to his clueless staff person. Between tears, I asked politely to speak to Mr. Gottfried. He has been in the assembly for about 100 years, I hope he has the good sense to return my call, if he doesn't, I intend to post a notice in my building and tell my neighbors that we have an assembly person who does not respond to constituents.

If he calls, I'll tell him that I deserve the same insurance he has. All I want is the health insurance every member of Congress has. Is this unreasonable?

People, we are on our own, make no mistake, we are on our own. Our government and our leaders have let us down.

We must not accept this grotesque status quo any longer.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/11/2/145810/489

There are 487 comments in response to the Diary. You are not alone and people are freaking out.

[BlueManDude]

5. Office visit co-pay now $25

remember when it was 2 or 3 bucks? if i have health insurance why do i have to pay 25 bucks when i go see a doctor?

[catmother]

6. we got ours too. premium is up, deductibles are up

maximum out-of-pocket is up. it goes up every year. we have united health care. there was a time, not too many years ago, that my husbands employer paid the premiums and there was no deductible -- just a 20% co-insurance.

on edit: just reading the other posts to this thread has given me a sick feeling in my stomach.

[masshole]

7. Same as I paid in 2004

3% COL increase each of the last two years (along with Merit increases), and no rise in health or dental rates.

I consider myself extremely fortunate.

[acmavm]

8. Why is no one freaking out? Because so damn many of us can't

afford health insurance at all. The company (United Healthcare) that the place I work for wants about $650.00+ per month for just me. (And did you know that women pay shitloads more than men???)

[fencesitter]

9. I know a couple who is pregnant.

Laid off from IBM, both of em' no more Health Insurance, they can't afford it. Luckily, she is French, and although has been living in this country for 20 years, still holds her French citizenship. They're going to France to have the baby. For Free. Americans going to Europe for affodable health care. And the RW is consumed with some fantasy that illegal aliens are coming to the USA for welfare and free health care?

[fight4my3sons]

10. Our insurance co. is changing,

but the rates are the same as the previous carrier. My husband's employer is changing from Cigna to Aetna. We are a family of 5 living on one income.

[Democrat 4 Ever]

12. I lost my health insurance in June 2004 due to Cobra benefits

running out. Spent 30+ years as a dependant on my ex-husband's policy until he had a new candidate for the job. He is a union employee and he pays zero for his and his dependents coverage. I was offered a continuance of my coverage after Cobra with just a little over a 266% increase. Yep, went from $450.00 a month to approx. $1,200.00 a month. I then turned to our state plan that offers coverage for people who can't get insurance from any other market. That was a little over $1,100.00 a month.

So now I'm without insurance with some health problems. Haven't had Rx or doctor visits in a year and half. Am I pissed...and scared? Yep. Have always paid my taxes, obeyed laws, contributed to society, raised three wonderful children. But now, due to the assholes in the republican party, I'm one of those "middle class" Americans that has fallen through the cracks. And I'm pretty sure I won't be in the "middle class" much longer. I just wonder how many people are like me and 2008 sounds like a lifetime away?

[IChing]

11. Your rates go up because Insurance companies need to keep their workers

So they can have jobs to decide on how to raise your rates or deny you service.

Now don't you feel better helping out?

[Blue_In_AK]

13. My husband is having an additional $300 per month

taken out of his (fixed) pension check for health care coverage this year. Pretty soon they won't leave us with anything.

[flpoljunkie]

14. Congress whores bought cheap by Big Insurance. Media could care less.

After, they all have health insurance.

[fencesitter]

15. I'm going on strike.

As soon as I form a Union. For everyone else. The UCOA. United Citizens of America.

[mokawanis]

16. My monthly premium went up over 500%

I still get family coverage on the cheap, $55 a month, but I was paying only $10. The problem is that the door has been opened and it's a sure bet that it will continue to climb every time we negotiate a new contract.
Why isn't health care a bigger campaign issue? This is becoming Anerica's biggest crisis. 45+ million uninsured? Absolutley unaccpetable.