Archived benefits...

[PITBULL]

Well went online to enroll today. I've been on the BCBS HMO plan for the last 4years. I planned to keep it this last year as promised by our company in writing! No optuon for HMO or PPO to choose from. I called the benefits line and was told that BCBS HMO the PPO were not available in my area anymore! Here I sit with my packet in front of me stating that it is available if you carried it last year! Benefits line said no that's wrong, not available to you in your area! All I could respond to her was thy lied to all of us! !!! They led us on until we had to enroll and then kick us in the face!! Haha you suckers we lied and there's nothing you can do about it!! What does this tell us about out leaders at corporate??Real respectable people!!

 

[redeye58]

Sorry to hear that, Pitt. Talk about a kick in the teeth.
Especially because I'm hoping to enroll my family in the PPO plan while it lasts.

 

[PITBULL]

Have you tried enrolling yet? I hope you don't get the same surprise lie package that we got! My STL is trying to find out what happened. She keeps saying it must be a mistake!!!

 

[Target Annie]

I have heard issues before from tm trying to keep HMOs. I did enroll and was able to keep the PPO, sigh,,, one last year. Sadness...:girl_cry3:

 

[redeye58]

My enrollment starts next week. You can bet this is gonna make me nervous.
Let me know what your leadership says. I'd be curious to see if it's feigned outrage or real fear.

 

[PITBULL]

We were told no HMO or PPO. Our STL has a district meeting tomorrow and she's going to bring it up. They've already emailed our group HR about this. The tms in my store are very upset.

 

[Rarejem]

I've never seen a $5000 deductible. Usually the "deductible" is not the same as the point when the plan takes over full costs (the "out of pocket max").

The worst I've ever had was a $500 deductible where the participant had to pay all of that BEFORE the plan started paying. At that point the split kicks in, where between the deductible and the OOP max kicks in you pay a percentage of the bill and the insurance pays the rest (this is usually a 70/30 or 80/20 split, although 90/10 also is out there). You pay the lower percentage and the insurance company pays the rest up to the OOP max, at which point the insurance then pays all costs up to the plan maximum.

The point is I doubt you really have a $50000 deductible.

The total deductible in the HSA plan for tm + family is $5000. OOP is $9600. This is in the standard guide titled "2012 open enrollment decision guide".

 

[mrknownothing]

Should we be worried that Target's "Ben E. Fitz" is Barry, the unlikeable nemesis colleague of Leonard and Sheldon, on the TV Show "Big Bang Theory?"

I love that show! I forgot about Barry Kripke (or should I say, Bawwy Kwipke).

 

[nib]

wow, almost 10,000$ for the family deductible, that's quite a bit of money

 

[nib]

From what I can tell, I guess people who were in an HMO or PPO can continue to be in them for one more year, and that the only HMO's that are going to continue on into 2013 is Kaiser and Healthpartners. People who used to be on other HMO's or PPO will have to pick between HRA and HSA (and participating in an FSA I guess)

 

[nib]

I think what is going to happen is the HMO's that are going to stick around will change from co-pays to co-insurance, so instead of just have a set amount you pay per visit, you pay a certain percentage of the cost of every visit.

I have heard issues before from tm trying to keep HMOs. I did enroll and was able to keep the PPO, sigh,,, one last year. Sadness...:girl_cry3:

 

[nib]

Yeah, I guess what happens is that if you are a team lead, you are get full time benefits as long as you average hours are above 20, whereas if you are a team member, I guess you have two grades of employment, part time which is 20 hours a week or more and full time which is 32 hours a week or more. team leads aren't offered the basic plans, just the better coverage standard plans. In order to get the better coverage, standard plans as a team member, you have to be above 32 hours a week or above 20 hours a week but have more than 2 years of service, though I don't think you can insure you spouse even if you have 2 years of service unless you are full time

 

[PITBULL]

Not true I was in HMO last year was promised to renew this year until today when I tried to enroll and found out they took the PPO and HMO Away this year they lied about keeping it one more year!!!!!!!

 

[nib]

so sorry to hear that, did you read through your benefit packet paperwork, does it clarify the answer to this at all? Again, sorry to hear this, we all know what it's like to be accustomed to our health insurance plan and to have the rug pulled out from under you, that's not nice. The good news is with the new health insurance pools that the president and congress passed, it sounds like everyone is going to have an alternative to their employers plans if they aren't being offered decent coverage thru their jobs. I don't think that goes into affect until 2013

 

[talan123]

Well, one reason I am against this reform is the big increase in deductables.

It's going to bankrupt quite a few folks out there. How do they get away from it? Bankruptcy court. That means they will give the creditors less than they should get, and who owes a lot of money to Target? Team members with credit cards. So I honestly think that this is going to cost them much more in the long run than the short term.

 

[TargetOldTimer]

so sorry to hear that, did you read through your benefit packet paperwork, does it clarify the answer to this at all? Again, sorry to hear this, we all know what it's like to be accustomed to our health insurance plan and to have the rug pulled out from under you, that's not nice. The good news is with the new health insurance pools that the president and congress passed, it sounds like everyone is going to have an alternative to their employers plans if they aren't being offered decent coverage thru their jobs. I don't think that goes into affect until 2013

Anyone know how much obama care will cost?

 

[redeye58]

Well, one reason I am against this reform is the big increase in deductables.

It's going to bankrupt quite a few folks out there. How do they get away from it? Bankruptcy court. That means they will give the creditors less than they should get, and who owes a lot of money to Target? Team members with credit cards. So I honestly think that this is going to cost them much more in the long run than the short term.

Don't count on bankruptcy court, either.
One of the things that made (then-senator) Hillary Clinton my permanent enemy was when she & Grassley co-authored a bill that 'reformed' bankruptcy filing. For those whose debts were in the 5 figures (20K-90K), that was considered low enough to work out a repayment plan. For those in the 6 figure range & above (ie: Donald Trump levels), they could still file for relief.
So some high-flying pseudo-celeb could blow millions on an extravagant lifestyle & walk away while Joe Blow may be filing because his health plan denied his wife's cancer treatment & he's cleaned out his savings, maxed his cards out & taken a 2nd mortgage on his home.
Grassley said it was to rein in those 'who play but don't pay' despite data that showed 67% of filings were due to medical crises & a majority of those were due to insurers who failed to pay according to their own policies.
So, instead of passing legislation that could've stiffened penalties for insurers who act with malicious intent, they made it harder for the little guy. Hardly surprising considering how much they got from the industry in campaign donations.

 

[Miguel]

The Affordable Care Act (NOT "obamacare") is going to be very affordable, I anticipate much better and cheaper than the direction employers coverage is going these days. Since everyone is going to be required to have health insurance, it means there are going to be hundreds of millions of people contributing to health care which will bring the costs down for everyone

Anyone know how much obama care will cost?

 

[Miguel]

And for those of you who follow politics, it might interest you to know that Republicans past legislation making it HARDER to file for bankruptcy, I sure hope americans realize the error of their republican ways, because the rich are getting richer, and the newest facts are that over 50% of the USA is below, at, or near the POVERTY LINE! Why is that? Because big businesses and corporate america doesn't pay their employees a reasonable wage!

Well, one reason I am against this reform is the big increase in deductables.

It's going to bankrupt quite a few folks out there. How do they get away from it? Bankruptcy court. That means they will give the creditors less than they should get, and who owes a lot of money to Target? Team members with credit cards. So I honestly think that this is going to cost them much more in the long run than the short term.

 

[talan123]

This was the closet cost estimate that I could find that I believe (take that for what it's worth).

The nonpartisan analysis from CBO estimates that the Affordable Care Act will cost $930 billion and reduce the deficit by $210 billion over a ten year period.

 

[Miguel]

Yes, that sounds pretty accurate. Long story short, the Affordable Care Act will be a good thing for those losing benefits or for those whose costs are going up

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Sounds about right.

 

[Rarejem]

I must live in a different part of the country than most on this forum. The only thing that changed was that this is the last year for the PPO and the tobacco surcharge. Costs, deductibles, OOP - all stayed the same except for the PPO. IMO the benefits that we are offered are less expensive and have better coverage than other companies in our area. Many of our tm's continue to work here in order to cover their families with the insurance plans that we are offered because the cost is so much less than their spouse or domestic partner would pay with their own employer's insurance offerings. Maybe we've been the pilot for the last few years since our biggest changes occurred about 4 years ago. lol

 

[nib]

The Affordable Care Act is goign to be very affordable because everyone is going to be required to participate, the more people who participate, the less expensive everyone's health insurance premiums. What a betrayal the massive deterioration of this coming year's health insurance, awful degrading of the coverage, so much more of the costs are going on people who can least afford it.

so sorry to hear that, did you read through your benefit packet paperwork, does it clarify the answer to this at all? Again, sorry to hear this, we all know what it's like to be accustomed to our health insurance plan and to have the rug pulled out from under you, that's not nice. The good news is with the new health insurance pools that the president and congress passed, it sounds like everyone is going to have an alternative to their employers plans if they aren't being offered decent coverage thru their jobs. I don't think that goes into affect until 2013

 

[Miguel]

you are severely uninformed, the medical coverage has gotten much worse this year and the out of pocket costs have gone up alot.

I must live in a different part of the country than most on this forum. The only thing that changed was that this is the last year for the PPO and the tobacco surcharge. Costs, deductibles, OOP - all stayed the same except for the PPO. IMO the benefits that we are offered are less expensive and have better coverage than other companies in our area. Many of our tm's continue to work here in order to cover their families with the insurance plans that we are offered because the cost is so much less than their spouse or domestic partner would pay with their own employer's insurance offerings. Maybe we've been the pilot for the last few years since our biggest changes occurred about 4 years ago. lol