Consumer’s Health Insurance Blog

When working as an employee at a large company, frequently this time of year is referred to as “open season.” This is the time that you can change your health insurance and other benefits. The same is true if you buy your health insurance from an insurer directly in the form of an individual policy.

Today I received the individual increase for my family, and the increase was in-line with our expectations. We expected one age-bracket increase (that I estimate is $20-$30 per month per family member with an age ending with a five or a zero), and the annual cost of medical care increase. The total increase was $36.89 per month. Since the insurer didn’t break out the charges, I’ll assume that the age bracket increase is about $20 per month and that the annual cost of care increase is $16.89 per month.The total cost increase for the next year will be $442.68.

This increase is not bad, but certainly different than last year when the health insurance amount for the same plan that we’re on went down, which is incredibly surprising. Compare it to the increases experienced by others, and it appears quite low. This is likely due to the high-deductible nature of the policy, which keeps overall claims to the insurer low. Couple that with the underwriting requirements of the insurer, which only allows the healthier applicants to be accepted for an HSA, and the reason for such a small increase is apparent. Lower deductible plans, and plans with copays may see a higher utilization, and thus more claims. Take into account that these types of plans have much higher premiums than an HSA plan, and even if the increase was the same percentage, the amount would still be higher.

I heard from my agent that this time of year is quite busy because with the increases that people receive, sometimes it’s larger, depending on your age and the plan that you’re on. So people may see their increases exceed a certain amount that they are comfortable spending. When ours increases beyond the next hundred dollar mark, per month, we’ll certainly feel it more.

How do you get your monthly amount to go down? Make sure that you have a quality insurer. Take the largest deductible that won’t keep you up at night, and be sure that you have enough financial resources to pay for the deductible amount, or finance it. Increase your wellness by losing weight, stopping smoking, or other unhealthy habits. Invest time in your health through exercise, stress reduction, and healthy eating. If you do all these, your health will increase, and your insurer may be able to adjust your rating based on these lifestyle changes, or another will.

Jonathan Pletzke is a consumer expert on health insurance and author of the health insurance book Get a Good Deal on Your Health Insurance Without Getting Ripped-Off, available online and at bookstores nationally. Additional details can be found at the consumers health insurance book and resources website www.BestHealthInsuranceBook.com. Copyright 2007-2008 Aji Publishing.

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