General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Our new huge insurance deductable, not good. [View all]haele
(12,646 posts)In situations where health care is provided as a company benefit, your employer picks the plan based off what s/he thought was most cost-effective for them, not necessarily what is the best overall for the employees.
Insurance companies have had a habit of steering smaller companies to the more lucrative (for them) catastrophic plans rather than to plans that can actually provide services for people that can have medical conditions - like kids, allergies, high blood pressure, etc.
They'll take most of the premiums paid (between you and your employer) and convert them into an account that pays "their" percentage of any negotiated health cost, leaving you to pay the rest out of pocket. If you're lucky, they'll roll it over every year without taking too many fees out of it...
As for rate increases; even HMOs have seen increases in premiums and co-pays.
Unfortunately, there's not much you can do about it if you need access to health care. And everyone will need that access sometime during their lives, no matter how "well" they take care of themselves.
Haele