I mentioned in my earlier post that our insurance was going up due to the ACA. It’s not!
Instead of our rates going up, our insurance is being completely discontinued. Under the new regulations, a group policy cannot consist of two members if they are husband and wife – even if the two members hold two different policies within the same group. We were advised by Anthem that we should go through the exchanges and purchase individual health insurance.
There’s a problem with this, though – my husband works for a school district that requires employees to either buy health insurance through the district or show documentation annually that he is insured through another group policy. We started purchasing a group policy through our LLC several years ago when the cheapest policy, through Kaiser and after the district contribution, was more than $1000 a month.
At that time, insurance for our family through a small business group policy was just under $600 a month. It wasn’t a great policy, but we put aside the $400 a month difference. Most years we saw a profit from this. We had one catastrophic year where we paid more in out-of-pocket expenses by about $500 than what we’d saved for the year. Forming an LLC, moonlighting to supplement a school district income, and purchasing a small business group policy has become a not uncommon practice among the employees who don’t have a spouse with a job that provides health insurance. It’s certainly been cheaper and has allowed employees the freedom to choose their health insurance and choose how much to budget for insurance.
Over the years, our small business group policy has risen in cost to $950 a month. The not quite comparable district policy is nearly $1500 a month after the district’s contribution. Because my husband is a technical worker and not a teacher, he is not represented by a union and so this is about $100 more than what teachers will pay per month.
Thanks to Obamacare, we are being forced to pay over $500 more a month for health insurance so we can keep the doctors we like. We’re losing our deductible contribution for the year since our deductible resets in January but our health insurance resets in July. I can’t for the life of me figure out what we’re gaining from this. And I don’t know how forcing mom-and-pop businesses out of group plans that most closely match their demographic and in to policies that are expensive enough to close a barely-break-even business is helping small business, or the economy.
doubleplusundead 
We can only hope that credit where it is due is given this election cycle.
Our gov’t has become ridiculous, the convolutions you have to go through to give someone money and just should not be.
I can understand regulating it to make sure they’re not ripping you off, but to make so many arbitrary and just flat out capricious rules is beyond the pale and it’s affecting more and more people, influential people. The happy people in middle America who don’t really deal with the gov’t much or want to are suddenly being forced to.
The deals in CT and NY over guns are an extreme example and reaking crazy.
There are millions of people who’ve openly and fuck youedly flouted their laws. Think about that. Millions, in each state.
IN NY the Sheriffs are against enforcing their law. I mean they are just refusing to enforce it.
While in CT they’re apparently mulling enforcing it.
Either way, the rule of law, the whole freaking point of America, is breaking down.
That can’t be good.
LK, it won’t make much difference at this point.
The GOP will try to ‘fix’ Obamacare, the deficit will still be over a $trillion each year, Boehner will use some slimy move to get immigration “reform” passed that will be amnesty now with enforcement later, you know, next year for realsy and the candidate in 2016 will be Jeb Bush or Mitt Romney and not Scott Walker (my favorite) and definitely not Rand Paul. The campaign against him by the GOP poo-bahs, the Dems and their Minitrue minions will be relentless.
It’s the difference between a long and a short drop when being hung anymore.