TexasCHLforum.com

The costs for our Group Policy will go up by 22% starting April 1st. (Our Plan year is April-March.) This does not include a $5 PCP, $10 Specialist, and $10 ER co-pay increase. Oh, and our deductible has risen from $3,500.00 per person to $5,000.00. This means my wife and I are on the hook for the first $10K. ($7,500 per person if out of network or $15K for both of us.) There is not cap on out of pocket expenses and we are responsible for 30% in-network and 40% out of network. In order to qualify for the low cost premiums, Texas SB80 requires we pay 100% of the premium cost for all of our employees. We have found that we can no longer employ any one other than ourselves. We sub some of our projects out, but must limit that use so that they cannot be classified as employees. Our prescription drug deductible remained the same but our co-pay went up on everything except generics. This puts us on the hook for about $30K a year should we both need to spend anytime in the hospital in the same year. We are in the process of insurance shopping and may opt to use personal policies rather than our current group policy. We opted for the group insurance a few years ago because at that time, groups could not exclude anyone for preexisting conditions. The Affordable Healthcare Scam is really hitting us hard!