Most Americans can expect to pay significantly more each month for health insurance next year, whether they get it through work, the Affordable Care Act or Medicare. In some cases, the premium increases may be the largest in decades and are driven by numerous economic pressures. But they won’t look the same for everyone. Some will pay more in the form of higher copays or deductibles.
“Healthcare costs are going up faster than they have in years, and open enrollment is when the healthcare affordability crisis is really going to hit home for people,” said Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at KFF, a nonpartisan research group. “That’s true for whatever kind of insurance you have.”
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I pay a monthly fee for my ACA insurance. It’s generally not enough to cover the total cost of the insurance, so I have to pay the difference in my tax returns. In 2024 I got a $700 refund. In 2025 I owed $300. I likely won’t be able to afford the next one.
What a fucking scam. And I’m in my 40’s, which are prime cancer years. This is social murder.
I pay over $200 a week for my wife and myself. Employer supposedly pays even more. Just got an X-ray. Hospital couldn’t even give me an estimate before I got it done as to the cost. Thinking it’d be a $40 copay or something, went ahead. Get a bill for $340. At bare minimum, we need to be able to know how much service will cost so we can at least make an informed decision. Realistically the entire system should be demolished, but the only way that’s ever happening is if we get a few hundred or thousand more Luigi’s.
Not that you were asking, but I would recommend at least looking at ACA plans. I don’t know your situation or area, but I have excellent insurance through Obamacare and we are probably paying the same amount based on what you quoted for just you two. There’s no employer portion of the ACA plan, so they’re getting less money from having my family as a customer than having you two, but it seems like I’m getting better copay rates for a monthly premium that’s equivalent to yours. I also have a very low out of pocket max.
I recommend Kaiser or BCBS. If they don’t have those in your area you might be better off with your employer plan. I’ve heard terrible things about basically all other providers in my area at least. I’d stay away from United at all costs. Hope everything with the recent hospital visit resolved well.
I have Blue Cross now. Kaiser is also offered, but significantly more expensive. I actually just looked up my plan and the X-ray should be $20-$40 copay. So they’re just trying to fuck me over. Big surprise. The other BC plan, the PPO would be me covering until deductible is met, but I stopped using that plan because basic Dr visits were the same. No coverage until the deductible is met. My current plan has $20 pcp visits and $40 specialist or X-ray. But a higher deductible.
I’m alive thanks to my wife keeping her job at a place known for people working there because the insurance is pretty good.
I’m a retired programmer but I’m too young for Medicare, so I drive a school bus mainly because we get excellent health insurance as a benefit. Otherwise I’d be paying over a thousand a month for a shitty policy with something like a $7000 deductible and my limited finances couldn’t handle that. Hopefully I can make it onto Medicare before my school district privatizes the transportation department or replaces it with AI-driven buses. Also hopefully Medicare stays around.
It’s crazy the things we do to stay alive.
I’ve finally transitioned (well, medicare approval process ongoing) into a safer place only because my kidneys failed and I’m on dialysis. heh. Otherwise I’d still be potentially screwed.
Back when ACA was new and the plans were good compared to now… they still weren’t good. I remember my only affordable option was a fully subsidized plan costing $450/mo with a $12,000 deductible before ANYTHING kicked in, or something like a $750 plan that still had like a $3000 deductible but at least you could do some stuff with copays, but I couldn’t afford $300/mo at that time. So I got the plan that paid out and did literally nothing but fund the insurance company.