Our private insurance just went from $630/month to $875 for a family of 4. We have good coverage though. The reason we have it is because both when I Worked at a big company and now a very small firm, it cost about the same to keep private insurance than to go on their crappy plans. I have Kasier, on the west coast, and I love it. People usually love it or hate it but it has traditionally been a tad more affordable.
This year they restructured their rates. So though I turned 30 and expected an increase, we got slammed as we now pay the same at 30 as at age 49. We had actually planned to find alternate healthcare long before we turned 40 because of this. My boss is retiring in a few years (sole proprietor) and my husband will go back to work, we will both be looking for jobs with health insurance in mind. In fact, this year he may go to work PT just to get us some insurance. Costco and the government offer Kaiser to PT employees. To us it the health insurance ALONE would be worth him working.
It is insane. If you told me when I had my first kid 3 years ago that we would be paying $875/month for the same coverage, Oh my gosh, I Wouldn't have believed it. (Along the same lines of preparing for retirement). We got a lesser plan (but still better than a HDP) for this year and dh had a vasectomy. Since more kids will be pretty much out of the picture we will look into other options next year. For now we pay $675/month for lesser coverage and we lost our drug benefit. As long as there was risk of pregnancy I wanted to keep better coverage. I Won't care so much as we move forward. I Will probably keep the kids on kaiser and dh and I Will take my boss's crappy plan which may not save much money anyway. ???
I am grateful we have the money to swing it, but doesn't leave room for much else. I am pretty sure if we don't have a job change that we will have to go to HDP plan in 2008. Sure you save on premiums but one ride in an ambulance and you are out your deductible. I am saving my pennies because even as healthy people, with 4 of us odds are high we would use our deductible on something.
No advice here, just commiserating...
I shudder when I look at the rates at private coverage for age 50, 60. I can't even think that far ahead, one year at a time I guess...