They Have to Be Kidding Right?

And this is what will continue to happen if the Affordable Care Act is repealed in any part.

For those of you who think "government health care" is so bad, my ex being a disabled Vietnam Vet gets absolutely stellar mental and physical health care through the VA - absolutely stellar...

Yes, many are in the same boat...my husband works for Sam's Club (WALMART) and we do carry family coverage through them...the premiums have steadily increased while the coverage has decreased at a similar rate to what you described...most of my husband's full time coworkers go without or have state coverage for their children and this is for a full time career type job. I hope you can find some assistance, it certianly seems you should qualify for something!

I don't want to get all political here, but this is why Obama's health plan is so critical. If it were in effect as he wanted it, you would have a choice and that would force everyone to lower their rates. Right now they are gauging you because they can. They don't care if you can afford it or not. Most people want health insurance, it's just so unbelievably expensive it can't be afforded.

Blast away, republicans.... I won't change my progressive political views...

For those blaming the Affordable Care Act--just remember, that the insurance companies have been happily increasing premiums by leaps and bounds for DECADES! They have been keeping themselves fat & happy since long before Obama was in office. They just cannot be trusted to "police" themselves and do what's "fair and equitable."

Double check to make sure you don't qualify for some assistance, because your income is really, really low...
You just can't support a family on $300/week even without those premiums. Walmart routinely hands out Medicaid applications WITH their new hire package, the healthcare is SO unaffordable for their (mostly all) PT employees, that I think you need to double check what's available to you.

All the best!

The result of these insane prices isn't due to the current/pending health care changes. That is just an excuse. It is the result of health insurance companies screwing us because they can.

We deserve real choices, and we have none. Say yes to a single payer system, say no to letting health insurance companies get their way.

Ours went up as soon as they announced that idiotic health care nonsense was passed .
our RX costs have doubled from last year as well.
I know people that live under government run health care and IT SUCKS.
And actually we lived under it when hubby and I were full time Army.
Dealing with it is like going to the DMV . It was HORRIBLE.
This is why repealing Obamacare is so critical.

ETA: I have a friend in Finland who needed back surgery, she had to wait 18 MONTHS before she could have it.
And we've had to deal with the VA as well. They lost my paperwork THREE TIMES.

No but I feel your pain. We had to get individual Healthcare, we pay 500 a month and have a 7500 dollar deductible. Then when I had the audacity to actually USE it, they jacked up out deductible to 15,000 PER PERSON and gave us very restricted care. I have a pre existing condition and no one else will take us on.

That and good luck finding an individual plan that covers maternity. We have exactly ONE carrier in Florida that has it....if you want to pay 1000 a month, be on it for 10 months BEFORE, you get pregnant. It's a joke. So we basically can not afford to have another child. This is why we NEED health care reform. If we sit and do nothing it will never get better.

You can thank our current president. If you object, vote for someone different in november

Our PPO went from 387 a month to 867 a month. It is the threat of Obamacare at work. Thankfully they did not take away our high deductible option or I would have had to switch to my husband's insurance.

The reason why I don't get health insurance through my husband's work...is it's 600 a month for just ME...and that's with a 10,000 deductible. It's only $120 a month for my husband with a 10,000 deductible. Sigh. Oh, and it wouldn't be a family deductible, either. Rather, a per person deductible. Lovely. (My son would be another $225, but we purchase his separately through Blue Cross. It's not much cheaper, but it's A LOT better.) So...yeah...we definitely can't afford $1,000 a month on health insurance. That's our mortgage AND utilities!! Anyway, I feel for you.

Also...I think some people need to really research Obamacare. It would certainly NOT make prices go down. In fact, it will be MUCH worse.

yes, this is happening in response to the AHCA. had it gone through sanely as it was originally presented (and should have been implemented decades ago) we'd all be in a much better position now, but because of all the hysteria around it, the insurance companies who greeded us into this untenable situation are now able to point and shriek and rake in even more profits before they're finally corralled into sanity.
i don't know what to do, frankly.
if obamacare gets repealed and what follows is the Big Nothing that the right advocates in its place, this situation will actually look great.
khairete
S.

$229 a week does not sound bad to me.

We own our company and have private insurance. We are all 3 in good health and our insurance is basically here to cover us in case of some accident or illness. We are rarely at the Dr but when I do take daughter it is around $300 per visit.

We have a $10,000 deductible and pay about $1100 a month in premiums. This is all private insurance funded by us personally.

This is medical only.... we do not carry dental or vision insurance. We pay cash for those.

I would talk to your social worker again. With the prices that they are asking there is no way you can take the health insurance through his work. Usually they are able to see what it costs and look at your income then they will choose to scale at what you pay or they will help pay for the insurance through his company. If you turn down the insurance with out talking to them first they can cut you off completely. That's how I understood it. They will be able to explain this better than I am.

Its crazy what they charge! My husband pays $125 a week for family insurance that isn't that great. We pay $500 a month for insurance and bring home $1,000 a month in pay. Even though we have insurance for our family the state still allows us to be covered through them also.

Hopefully talking to them again and showing them the numbers they will be able to help you out! It sucks because insurance companies only look at the $$ and forget about the people who are giving them the money.

You're right, it's ridiculous. However, healthcare costs for employers have increased 50% since 2001. The average cost for employers to insure a family of four in 2011 was $15,073, so they are forced to pass some of the increase on to employees. Something else that is ridiculous? The CEO of Cigna earned $19.1 million in 2011, a 25% increase from 2010.

Thru my husbands job we never paid weekly or monthly fees only a percentage of the bill, we have an 80/20 deal - we pay 20% off the bill 'after' the agreed amount was calculated and we have no co pay. I hated it cause sometimes 20% was more then most peoples co pays!

This is the first year they are making us pay weekly which is something like $16 a week, which is part of union dues, plus there is a deductible now of $800 for the family. And we are still on the 80/20 plan. I was so upset that now we have to pay over $1500 a year before the insurance pay anything, Im like whats the point of having insurance? But after reading everyones posts it looks like we got it good? lol.

We are not big doctor people, we are a family of 5 and we never go to the doctor.We go more to the dentist because we get two free cleanings a year! lol. Even the eye doctor plan gives us a reimbursement every 2 years for less then half the price I pay for my glasses, but its better then nothing I guess. Id rather try something holistic before I pay some jerk to sit with me for less then 5 minutes and tell me I have an infection, heres the $200 bill and get some antibiotics for another $100. I know its good to have 'just in case' but its getting horrible when we fear going to the doctor because of the cost of healthcase.

A friend of mine in the same situation as yourself managed to get state coverage for her twins because they couldnt afford the one offered by her husbands job. So keep looking there has to be something out there.

If you and your husband are healthy, look into a HSA plan.. It's major medical and a fraction of the price... It's normally a high deductible but it's worth having some type of coverage.. We used to have it for our family (of 3) and it was about 230 per month! We had ours through Humana..

If that was our case, my husband would have insurance through work only. I've always had my individual policy that's only $157 a month, higher deductible but covers what I need plus dental. The kids are on our state children's health insurance for a tiny premium.

This is why we have private insurance. My hubby's insurance is paid by his employer, but to add me and our two children was astronomical! We don't go to the doctor too often and we are all in pretty good health, so we looked into private health insurance. We have a super high deductible, so it's basically catastrophic insurance....meaning we will be covered should something terrible happen. Our premiums are very reasonable, but we pay more than most when we see the doctor (a well check is usually about a $100 for us. Vaccines are free, but we pay $15 for the process to inject them.). So private may be an option for you too.

I have been in that same situation. When I waited tables at Red Lobster years ago, I was eligible for health insurance after 1 year. I was making $2.13/hour plus tips. The weekly rate for my husband and I was about 3 times what my actual check was. Very few people took the insurance there because it was cost prohibitive for people making that little... I just went without insurance until I finished school and could find a job using my degrees....

Whoa! We are totally out of the insurance loop. My husband is active duty military and we have Tricare. My heart aches for everyone paying so much--or being forced to go without. ((HUGS))

2/3 of my hub's paycheck is for our insurance, good thing I work too! It's insane.

Health insurance is one big reason I am employed today. I started my job part time and once I went full time, my insurance benefits became too big of a benefit.

I think insurance would be $700/month for the family, which is a car + insurance payment and then some.

OMG... That is rediculous, We dont pay that for a family of 4 about to be 5 bi-weekly, we only pay 130 bi-weekly. and even after I have the baby it will not go up... Please look at other options