Is anyone else losing spouse coverage?

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I am an LPN in a Florida nursing home. I received a letter that they are dropping spouse coverage on April 1. My husband is retired and not eligible for Medicare or health insurance elsewhere. We have been getting quotes of $800 to 900 a month. Does anyone know if this is a trend in nursing homes? What about home health care? I will need to change jobs, but the insurance is an important factor. Any input is appreciated.

You might benefit from a little more research on this. If you're already prepared for retirement and you're just basically trying to find a job just for the benefits then you're actually in luck since you'll qualify for a subsidy; a silver plan will cost you about $15/month or about $150/month for a Gold plan (and you can retire now).

We have been researching since January 1. We do not qualify for subsidies.

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Specializes in Critical Care.
We have been researching since January 1. We do not qualify for subsidies.

If you retire you would. The subsidies are extremely generous, do you think they should be even more generous?

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You might benefit from a little more research on this. If you're already prepared for retirement and you're just basically trying to find a job just for the benefits then you're actually in luck since you'll qualify for a subsidy; a silver plan will cost you about $15/month or about $150/month for a Gold plan (and you can retire now).

Wow. Again. Not only are you assuming that yet another nurse in here doesn't seem to know what health care options are available to her, or are not- you are giving information based on not knowing her age, her income, her financial situation, or anything else about her. And you tell her she qualifies for not only a subsidy, but can also get a plan for as little as $15/month? That deserves another "WOW".

It's pretty clear that the OP, much like the other poster, not only knows what hurdles she faces, but that she's also astute enough to know what 'research' is needed in her daunting quest to find coverage for her husband, and if things were as simple as you claim to think they are, she would have already gotten that coverage, and wouldn't have posted in here, in the first place.

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Specializes in Critical Care.
Wow. Again. Not only are you assuming that yet another nurse in here doesn't seem to know what health care options are available to her, or are not- you are giving information based on not knowing her age, her income, her financial situation, or anything else about her. And you tell her she qualifies for not only a subsidy, but can also get a plan for as little as $15/month? That deserves another "WOW".

She actually gave her husbands age, If you read back you'll notice those were based on her being retired which means being well below 400% of poverty level in taxable income. All of which are enough information to get basic quotes as well as know how much subsidy is available. If they don't qualify for a subsidy while she's working then they make at least $65,000.

Everything we're discussing has actual numbers that would seem to only benefit the conversation, although it seems like for some the specific facts only get in the way.

It's pretty clear that the OP, much like the other poster, not only knows what hurdles she faces, but that she's also astute enough to know what 'research' is needed in her daunting quest to find coverage for her husband, and if things were as simple as you claim to think they are, she would have already gotten that coverage, and wouldn't have posted in here, in the first place.

Apparently not. I'd find her argument more sincere if not for the obvious political slant, and I've learned that rarely are these stories as they appear, for instance from the recent Republican response to the State of the Union by Representative McMorris Rodgers:

"Here's the quote from McMorris Rodgers: "Not long ago I got a letter from Bette in Spokane, who hoped the President’s health care law would save her money – but found out instead that her premiums were going up nearly $700 a month. No, we shouldn’t go back to the way things were, but this law is not working."It turns out the woman's premium hike was considerably lower than that, and McMorris Rodgers' office hadn't spoken to her directly or validated the claim.

Here's what happened. Grenier was paying $552 per month for a catastrophic, bare-bones plan that was (like many others) canceled because it didn't meet Obamacare's minimum benefits standard. A replacement plan cost $1,200 per month -- hence the "nearly $700" hike. But that happened to be one of the more expensive policies, and a cheaper one was available for $1,052 per month. In addition, the 58-year-old Grenier admitted to the Spokesman-Review that she could probably have lowered that figure by $100 if she bought from the state-based Obamacare exchange, but she didn't want to do that.

"I wouldn't go on that Obama website at all," Grenier told the paper. "We liked our old plan. It worked for us, but they can’t offer it anymore."

So a more accurate telling of the story is that Obamacare will force Grenier's monthly premiums to go up by about $400 and improve her benefits. Still a lot of money, but much less than $700, and that extra money will protect her in the event of illness from cost increases and prohibit her insurer from throwing her off her plan."

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Specializes in Critical Care.
People are probably going to have to make decisions about whether they can afford medical care.

I can see how one would be upset if they thought this was something new and only happening due to Obamacare. Many, many people couldn't afford medical care prior to Obamacare, and by "couldn't afford" it I mean they really couldn't afford it, not that it was a financial nuisance or something they'd just prefer to pay less for.

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I worked at Walmart as a cashier for years and the food stamp portion of an ebt card can not be used for anything other than food, it would deduct the food items from the bill and their remaining balance would be for the non food items. There's no way to override what is rung up as food and what is not in the system. Ebt stands for electronic benefits transfer and someone could possibly have cash benefits on their card. I had a friend that had an ebt card that had food stamps and cash on her card, she qualified for a state program that gave her a little extra money to help pay bills etc while we were in nursing school. The money went straight onto her ebt card and she could use it just like an ATM/debit card. When the state took her ex's tax refund for back child support it was put on her card too. This was several years ago but, I'm sure things basically work the same way. My husband was on unemployment a few years ago and his unemployment benefits were put on an ebt type card. Just because you see someone use a ""ebt""card for non food purchases don't assume they are trying to scam the system. In my experience from years working as a cashier some people do try to play the system when it comes to their benefits but, most don't.

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I will be first to say that I do pay less for health insurance this year, $80 less per month. Same insurance with same co-pays and same annual out-of-pocket maximum. I did not read fine prints to compare every detail yet.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
I worked at Walmart as a cashier for years and the food stamp portion of an ebt card can not be used for anything other than food it would deduct the food items from the bill and their remaining balance would be for the non food items. There's no way to override what is rung up as food and what is not in the system. Ebt stands for electronic benefits transfer and someone could possibly have cash benefits on their card. I had a friend that had an ebt card that had food stamps and cash on her card, she qualified for a state program that gave her a little extra money to help pay bills etc while we were in nursing school. The money went straight onto her ebt card and she could use it just like an ATM/debit card. When the state took her ex's tax refund for back child support it was put on her card too. This was several years ago but, I'm sure things basically work the same way. My husband was on unemployment a few years ago and his unemployment benefits were put on an ebt type card. Just because you see someone use a ""ebt""card for non food purchases don't assume they are trying to scam the system. In my experience from years working as a cashier some people do try to play the system when it comes to their benefits but, most don't.[/quote']

Thank You :yes:

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Specializes in Psych.

Thankfully my employer has not dropped spouse coverage, but I did do some research when the exchanges first came out to see what we would be looking at if we paid out of pocket (we don't qualify for any type of help). Essentially to get the same type of coverage we have now, we'd be looking at an additional $100.per month. Not too bad at all.

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You might benefit from a little more research on this. If you're already prepared for retirement and you're just basically trying to find a job just for the benefits then you're actually in luck since you'll qualify for a subsidy; a silver plan will cost you about $15/month or about $150/month for a Gold plan (and you can retire now).

Source?

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Specializes in Ambulatory Surgery, Ophthalmology, Tele.
I have to say I'm skeptical of your numbers. Prior to Obamacare the average cost of a family insurance plan was $14,000 per year. If you were paying only $4,000, you likely either had less coverage than you apparently thought you did, or you were the lucky recipient of a health insurance miracle.

I've shopped for both individual and small business group plan prior to Obamacare and I found nothing like what you're describing. $300/month for a family of 4 would buy a "mini-med" plan, which are essentially nothing more than a way of pre-paying relatively small health costs, if you end up with cancer or even a typical ICU stay these plans were unlikely to prevent significant financial hardship and often bankruptcy.

The prices I gave were a PPO plan, not HMO. An HMO quote I received was $1000 to $1200 a month, more in the range you mentioned. When I left the hospital and went to an ambulatory surgery center. That is when I needed to find a plan for my husband and kids. My husband's job did not offer insurance. It was a bit of a shock when we shopped plans. I would rather have an HMO but we opted for the PPO plan because the monthly cost is much cheaper. We are all healthy and don't take any meds. The PPO plan covers two doctor visits a year but anything after that and there is a $2500 (well, now $5000) deductible. It is so discouraging having to spend so much while someone is making a profit off of us. :no:

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.
I have to say I'm skeptical of your numbers. Prior to Obamacare the average cost of a family insurance plan was $14000 per year. If you were paying only $4,000, you likely either had less coverage than you apparently thought you did, or you were the lucky recipient of a health insurance miracle. I've shopped for both individual and small business group plan prior to Obamacare and I found nothing like what you're describing. $300/month for a family of 4 would buy a "mini-med" plan, which are essentially nothing more than a way of pre-paying relatively small health costs, if you end up with cancer or even a typical ICU stay these plans were unlikely to prevent significant financial hardship and often bankruptcy.[/quote']

Here are my numbers for a family of 4:

Large well known insurance company through employer, contribution is approx $100 per week. Free well exams, $25 co-pays for sick visits, $50 for specialists, $1000 deductible for inpatient stays, $100 for ED visits which are waived if admitted. RX's $10/$25/$50. I can not even fathom affording $14,000 per year for health insurance plus high deductibles. The insurance is through spouses employer in MA. He is not in healthcare and his employer pays 80% of the health insurance cost plus his weekly cost is taken out pre-tax.

I think the key to affordability is his employer contributions to the health insurance costs. Many of the other company "benefits" aren't very beneficial but the health insurance makes it worth it. I contemplated adding family dental through my employer, since his work does not offer dental, but the weekly cost was almost as high as what he pays for health coverage. Its crazy to here what people are forced to pay for insurance.

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