Dear Mr. Senator,
Today I qualified and
signed up for insurance through the new marketplace implemented for the
Affordable Care Act… This is a momentous occasion but not something that my
family will be celebrating. You see, we have had privately held insurance since
2009 when my husband lost his benefits at work. At the time we shopped around
and found an option that worked for our family. We chose a catastrophic
insurance plan. It was the best fit for us since we did not use maternity care
and did not use prescriptions. We seldom, if ever, went to the doctor. Most
importantly, it allowed us to save enough money in a tax-free H.S.A. account to
meet our high deductible in case of a catastrophe. This plan, for our family of
6, initially cost us $165 per month.
At renewal the next year
(February 2010) our rate went up by 4% per month to $171. The increase came
with a notice citing the new changes that may come into effect because of
Obamacare letting us know that if the law passes, the coverage that we have
chosen will no longer be deemed acceptable.
Several months later, our
insurance- which we purposely chose to fit our needs- notified us that they
would now be required by law to cover preventative care at 100% regardless of
the status of our deductible. We were also notified that they could no longer offer the insurance plan that we had set up to new customers; however, as an existing policy holder we could continue coverage as a grandfathered policy.
Our 2011 renewal came with
a 15% increase putting our plan at $196 per month. We were also notified that
our plan was now required to cover cancer screenings along with covering 100%
of preventative care and immunizations. According to the letter in our renewal
packet, this was what caused our rate to go up. We renewed our plan.
Later that year, our
oldest child had some severe mental health challenges. Our insurance plan did
not cover mental health but the provider did give us the option of switching to
a new plan. I looked at other options and found that should we purchase another
catastrophic insurance plan with mental health coverage, we would likely lose
our insurance when the ACA went into effect. Our “grandfathered” plan status
would no longer be in effect. We paid out of pocket without the help of
insurance for my son’s medical needs and stuck to our grandfathered plan.
The year 2012 brought us
another 20% increase bringing our rate to $234 per month. We were also reminded
by letter that this plan did not meet the requirements of the ACA and we may
end up losing coverage soon. We shopped around and found that our grandfathered
“sub-standard” health care plan was half the rate of anything else that we
could find. We renewed.
The year 2013 again gave
us a 20% increase bringing our rate now to $291 per month. We were finally told
that we could keep our insurance because of its grandfathered status without
paying a penalty.
The glorious health care
market place opened late 2013. Out of curiosity, we checked it out and found that
the basest bronze-level plan was more expensive than our “sub-standard”
insurance. However, because
of our income, we would qualify for “tax-credits” to reduce our premium. We
weighed our options and ultimately decided against signing up for other people’s
money. We had been able to pay our bills and we could afford (barely) our
insurance, so we stuck with it.
In February of 2014 we received a notice that
our insurance would again be increasing by 20%. Our rate was now $350 per month
for a high deductible catastrophic plan. We could no longer afford to contribute
to our H.S.A. with this new rate, but we did renew our plan.
That history now brings us
to this monumental day in 2015. Our rates have gone up again, by another 20%. In
the past five years, our insurance has increased by a whopping 250%. Our
income… has stayed the same. The friendly letter reminded us that if we don’t
like the rate increase we can always “visit Healthcare.gov and look at other
Marketplace plans.” We received our letter 5 days before the marketplace closes...
We are starting to see a pattern and realize the predicament that we are in.
Our grandfathered plan will continue to try to price us out by increasing the
rate each year. $412 per month is more than 10% of our income and we are
down to the wire. I've talked to several private insurance agents who have all told me there is nothing less expensive on the private market than our plan. Our Health Savings Account is empty... and we are out of
options. Today we canceled our insurance.
I literally cried. I cried
for the future of this country. We have never been wealthy- not even
upper-middle class. But, for our entire marriage my spouse and I have been able
to pay our bills, stay out of debt and avoid any kind of government assistance.
We have almost always qualified for reduced school lunches and I’m sure other
government programs- but we have never needed it and we willingly chose not to partake.
We budget, we save, and we flourish with hard work and sacrifice. Our children
have never gone hungry and are, in fact, quite healthy. As I filled out the
application and chose a new healthcare plan- I was required to check a box
stating that should our income ever drop to a level that qualifies us for
Medicaid, we would cancel our marketplace insurance and enroll in welfare.
We do not want handouts!
But we have literally been forced onto government assistance along with
countless other Americans. We have just signed up to receive money “from the
government”… money that our government can only get through taxation, penalties
and fees from ourselves, our neighbors, our friends, and our posterity… and
even projections of this “revenue” falls far short of covering this staggering
cost.
In the meantime, we have been
priced out of our “substandard” insurance which had a lower price tag overall
than the bronze level plan we have just signed up for. Our catastrophic insurance
plan, even with the rate hike, was 50% less expensive for premiums than the
cheapest government subsidized health plan available. It also had a max family
deductible of $10,400- covering everything at 100% after that deductible was
met- which beats even the highest priced bronze level plan on the marketplace.
Mr. Senator, I realize I
am not telling you anything new in this letter. I merely want my voice to be
heard. I want people to know how the Affordable Care Act is directly affecting
one family who it proposes to benefit. We do not see this as a benefit. We are not happy. I sincerely hope that
you will continue to do whatever is possible to repeal this outrageous infringement
upon our families’ freedoms. With every dollar that we add to our debt and with
every healthcare option that is ripped away from us, our country falls deeper
into a state of dependence and becomes less and less like the free America that our
founding fathers fought and died for... all in the name of social justice.
Your constituent,
Sheryl Rose
