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Posted 11/28/2012 2:48 AM (GMT 0)
I have Anthem BC/BS insurance. My policy renews every July 1st. They adjust me for a new rate and then that monthly rate stays the same until the following July 1st. My next renewal of course is in the middle of 2013 and Obamacare is supposed to kick in January of 2014, just 6 months later. I am actually expecting my rates to go down since they are charging me a higher rate now due of course to my UC and under Obamacare they aren't supposed to charge me a higher rate due to a pre-existing condition. Does anyone know how that will work? Will I have to continue paying my July renewal rate through the next July or can I actually expect a change come January 2014? I kind of need to find out the answer to this question as I have a few minor tricks up my sleeve to help keep my rates from going up starting in July but if my rates are going to come down the following January due to Obamacare then those tricks become less important. Also, is it possible the insurance company would adjust my rates down in July, ahead of Obamacare? I have never seen this particular issue addressed when reading about Obamacare and don't know how to find out.
Posted 11/28/2012 3:42 AM (GMT 0)
I doubt they will lower anything prior to being legally forced to. They are a corporation with a top priority of making as much money as possible. I can't answer your questions but if I were you, I would continue on expecting nothing from Obamacare. We will have to wait and see how it works out but usually things aren't what they seem. I hope it is a plausible solution for all of us, I really do. We have suffered too long with this insurance situation.
Posted 11/28/2012 1:55 PM (GMT 0)
There's no way of knowing what the insurance company will do. Some insurance companies are phasing things from ACA in earlier than the federal deadlines, as they know it needs to be done anyways. It really is at the insurance companies discretion when things appear in their policies.

I am not sure if Anthem BC/BS does mid-term rate adjustments or not, you can certainly call them anytime and ask the question. I know mid-term rate adjustments work well with auto insurance policies, as I've done it before. I had progressive auto insurance and a speeding ticket (85mph in a 65mph zone oops) which was scheduled to disappear off my driving record (by law) after 3 years, and that magic date happened to be 1/2 way through my auto insurance policy, and I was paid in full for the whole year. I called the day after that magic date that the ticket was gone and they ran the numbers again and I saved a lot; the sent me a reimbursement check.
Posted 11/28/2012 2:11 PM (GMT 0)
In all of these years Anthem has never adjusted my rates mid term. It seems like they are locked in to whatever rate they charge for the next 12 months. I don't really expect them to lower my rates before January 2014 but I was kind of wondering about the wording of the Affordable Care act as to whether Anthem would be required to readjust my rates as of January 2014 or if the law would allow them to continue with the July 2013 rates until the policy is renewed in July 2014.
Posted 11/28/2012 7:37 PM (GMT 0)
In many areas the law just spells out principles and requirements but leave the fine print to be written by regulatory agencies later. Your insurance company may not have a clue at this point about what they are allowed to do or are going to do.
Posted 11/28/2012 8:17 PM (GMT 0)
For anyone wanting to know info on the Affordable Care Act I found this on Wikipedia which is long but pretty useful. It doesn't really answer my question either. When the law started to partially take effect in 2010 they talked about grandfathering in the new laws after individual policies expired but when it talks about the law changes coming January 2014 it doesn't mention grandfathering. It will be interesting to see what the insurance company does because if they are allowed to keep on charging me the higher monthly rates until the policy expired in July 2014 then I could theoritcally just cancel the policy in January and go with a new company who would have to abide by the new laws and rates. I might consider doing that anyway because I really hate that the policy year goes from July to July and the deductible goes from January to January.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affordable_Care_Act
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