The recent Forbe’s article that we reported on yesterday said that the ObamaCare web site gets bogged down because folks need to enter their private info in order to get a premium quote.
Why?
Forbes (and other pundits) say that the “list price” of the premiums are much higher than people expect … so the Feds want to calculate the ObamaCare subsideis first and quote people a net price … after taking the subsidies into account.
That got me curious.
How much are ObamaCare premiums … and what are the policy terms & conditions re: deductibles, co-pays, etc.?
So, I did some hunting … and, in fact, it takes some hunting.
Best source that I found is a tool developed by the Kaiser Family Foundation (link below).
The Kaiser calculator requires just a couple of inputs … no private information.
Here’s what I input: Family of 4, non-smokers, $100K household income.
OK, place your bets.
What do think the annual premium would be?
Answer: Just under $9,000 per year for the mid-range “Silver” plan ,,, list price = net price since the %100k is above the subsidy thresholds.
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Hmmm.
$9,00 per year sounded pretty good to me … I was expecting a number more like $12,500.
Here’s the rub:
A Silver plan has an “actuarial value” of 70%.
This means that for all enrollees in a typical population, the plan will pay for 70% of expenses in total for covered benefits, with enrollees responsible for the rest.
The other 30% ….
Think co-pays and deductibles … which vary from plan to plan.
There is a cap on out-of-pocket spending.
For a Silver plan (not including the premium) the cap is is $12,700.
That is, once a person’s co-pays and deductibles hit $12,700 … they don’t have to shell out any more.
I wonder if folks know that they may still be on the hook for more than $12,000?
The Feds point out: “Whether you reach this maximum level will depend on the amount of health care services you use.”
No kidding?
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Put it all together: $9,000 for a policy that covers about 70% of healthcare expenses with a $12,700 spending cap
I’ll let you decided whether that’s a good deal or not.
If you want to play with the Kaiser calculator, go to the Kaiser site.
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