Blue Cross, Blue Shield of Kansas, premiums up! deductibles up!
We knew that our Blue Cross, Blue Shield medical insurance premiums were going to be rising significantly for 2023, jumping from $255.98 to $425.02, which was already going to be a strain on our finances, but despite a letter dated October 18, 2022, saying that our max out of pocket would be $650 per person or $1,300 for the family, our actual out of pocket amount will be upto $18,200.
We discovered this information when we received our new insurance cards, and to our shock, we see the deductible say $4,500 per person, or $9,000 per family, with a max out-of-pocket cost of $9,100/$18,200. According to the letter, the only changes should have been the max out-of-pocket and premium cost, it made no reference to changes to our deductible, which should have remained at $350/$700.
In addition to the above; the copay cost has increased, from $20 to $35 for office visits, and $40 to $75 for specialist office visits, and the coinsurance has increased from 20% to 30%. this is crippling for us, my wife needs extensive medical care, and there is no way we can afford to pay all this out of pocket. The maximum out-of-pocket expenses for 2023 are almost one third of our total yearly income.
Oh, and I’m not covered on the BCBSKS plan either, I am not eligible, as medical insurance is offered by my employer, which is cheap, but also barely worth the ink printed on my insurance card.
I recently did a refinancing of our debts to be able to afford the extra $169.04 premium, and now we get hit with this bullshit. I don’t know whether we have any recourse, as Blue Cross, Blue Shield’s original offer letter is very different from what we actually received. Does BCBSKS have to honor the offer letter?
I already have enough stress in my life, and this makes my stress levels spike significantly, knowing we cannot afford the ongoing medical care my wife requires. What is the point of medical insurance if we have to pay up to $18,000 out of pocket, on top of $5,100 per year for the premium, how is the average middle-class American able to afford this amount of money with a median US income of $78,000?
Read the continuation of this saga here.