This is a very much off topic post. If you don't want to talk about this, then please don't.
The second year of signup on the Colorado Health Exchange (and if you are doing something else for health, in another state, or country, please also contribute your experiences) has started and I wonder how other posters here were impacted.
Colorado originally broke the state into 11 pricing areas, but said that they were going to reduce the number of areas from 11 to 9. The reason for this was apparently to reduce the costs for people living in the area that contained Vail. I was concerned that perhaps they would reduce the costs for people in that area by raising the costs in other areas, like mine in Grand Lake. I also had some fear that after the first year people might have been more services than anticipated, so the cost might go up substantially because of that. So I kept an eye on the mail and waited for the day that a new premium might arrive. I also kept an eye on the Colorado exchange website, to see what it might say.
My experience during the year was positive. My old private plan was more expensive and didn't cover anything until I paid a very high deductible. My new ACA plan also has a high deductible, but is cheaper than the old one, and it pays for a lot of "preventive" stuff before you reach the deductible. It also gets rid of preexisting conditions. Lots of people in my family have a prexisting condition or two, which would leave them locked in, scared to change providers. I myself was deferring getting a colonoscopy for fear of establishing such a condition.
This year, with the pre-existing condition thing gone, I went to get my first colonoscopy at an age younger than typically warranted. My father died from it, and other relatives have as well, so his doctor when he died recommended all the kids get them ASAP. When I went in for the colonoscopy, the doctor who was performing the procedure was skeptical about me being there. Afterward, when he found 5 of the bad type of polyp, he basically said "Holy Shit, you have to come back here every year", and recommended a "genetic counselor". This also led LWH to claiming that I have "Inherited Asshole Syndrome". Overall, I was happy because the procedure was free, and my one visit to a doctor was only a $55.00 co pay, none of which would have been covered before.
Eventually, we did receive a renewal notice from our health insurance, and as feared, it showed a 25% increase in the premium. This was not popular news with me or my wife. I logged onto the Connect for Colorado site to see what was going on. I couldn't yet (being before the enrollment period was open) log into my account and sign up for new coverage, but it would let you check rates anonymously by putting in your birth dates, genders, and tobacco use. I put this in and found rates very similar to what we had paid last year. I was confused why there was a difference, and suspicious that either the rates on my premium were going up because of the Vail thing, or that they were indeed factoring in the colon cancer history to raise my premium. I decided to wait for the exchange to open before completely freaking out about the new rate. Maybe one of the other insurers would give me a better rate.
Well, Colorado opened things up yesterday, a day early, and I could check my rates for real. There it was, the same plan we had last year, but for only 2.7% more. Whew, what a relief. There were also some cheaper plans will less coverage, but they don't look like a fit for us. You could have saved about 40% over what we are paying to get a very restricted plan with a massive deductible.
How about you guys? Good experiences? Bad Experiences? The foreign posters with government healthcare, yes I am jealous of you. My wife lived in Germany for several years and blew out her knee playing basketball, and the healthcare was first class and didn't cost her anything.
