Beginning of the year my employer switched over to Aetna insurance and I am finding myself having to pay 20% of everything and I cannot believe how much out of pocket expense I have.
I just had to pay $75.00 for a 90 day supply of strips. I remember just paying $25.00 copay on my previous insurance.
Is $75.00 out of line?
Charges
Submitted
$1440.59
Aetna’s
Agreed
Pricing
$816.48
Paid by Plan
$741.48
Not Paid
$0.00
Your Deductible
$00.00
Your co pay/Coinsurance
$75.00
That’s a $25 copay for a 30 day supply, so I’ll say no. Obviously, it’s more than you were paying before, but I have a $20 copay for a 30 day supply of brand name products. It doesn’t have as much to do with the company that insures you as the stipulations of the plan as agreed to by the employer and the insurance company. You could complain to your benefits department, but this sort of thing is happening to most people. At my last job, they renegotiated the contract once a year, and every year, something about the plan meant more out-of-pocket expenses.
I’m about to be in a similar situation: I just found out yesterday that the cost of my insurance (through my work) is going from $80 a month with a $15 copay, to $300 a month with a $30 copay. Or, we can choose a “great new option” that only costs $100 a month – but has a $1800 deductible.
So I don’t know the answer to your question but I can tell you I’m sick to my stomach with anxiety trying to sort through all this “literature” from the companies, designed to help us decide which plan to sign up for. Until recently I’ve always had a great HMO with great rates and low copays. I was only diagnosed last year and have no idea how much all this stuff is going to cost, now that I’m basically going to be paying for everything myself, at least until I meet the deductible ($1800 is a lot of test strips).
At the time I was diagnosed I had been planning to quit this job and open my own shop (I’m a graphic designer), but I’ve given up that plan now and am trying to resign myself to working for others for the rest of my life, in order to secure access to group insurance rates.
Best wishes as you start figuring out how your new insurance works. I am not looking forward to doing the same next month … but am trying to look on the bright side: at least I still have coverage, even if it is expensive.