The verdict is in for our plan – it’s a 9% increase year over year. Frankly, that’s a relief given the 47% increase we saw last year. It’s become somewhat comical how annual increases at 3-4 times the annual inflation rate continue unabated in categories like healthcare, commodities, college costs, textbooks and more. It’s just something I plan for now, and seeing as how next year I’ll only see my total annual healthcare premiums go up a few hundred bucks, that won’t break the bank. What does annoy me is how much extra I’m paying for Obamacare in hidden costs (yes, we’re “Middle Class” so we’re not seeing all the “fees” and “surcharges” at the top of the income scale either).
I like to poll readers annually and see what kind of inflationary increases they are seeing in their plans come enrollment time each year.
What Is your Healthcare Cost Increase for 2013?
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
9% ain’t bad! I’ve got full health care paid for (don’t even have to pay the premiums) for a long while due to my negotiated severance.
Oh yeah; how long is that? And then will you go into some Obamacare deal? I haven’t looked at individual insurance ever because I intend on staying employed; wonder what it’s like out there.
They haven’t given us the exact rates but they said that they’re going up 4.5% this year. That was after a 0% increase last year, but the year before was over a 100% increase.
Wow, huge one two years back; but over past 2 years, averaging low single digits sure is nice – hope it stays like that for you for a few more years!
The dollar amount was small but it actually went up about 8% for me. Nor horrible considering my per paycheck contribution isn’t that much. Could be worse.
It seems like 8-10% is unsustainable and crazy, but it’s what we’ve all come to expect. I guess perhaps it will always remain so, until paying for healthcare is not different than your mortgage, like equivalent of $10K/year or more (even with employer benefits)!
This year was flat for us, but only because I elected for that damn no-tobacco pledge. The “nudge” went into effect last year, but I didn’t buy in for it.
This year, adding what I spend on my cigar vice and the health plan savings, I couldn’t ignore the $1,200/year and clicked on “yes”. Dammit!
Oh huge move; I consider myself so fortunate I never got into the tobacco thing (sure, tried a smoke socially a few times as a teenager but it just made me cough). Not only will you save money, but of course, the health benefits.