Annual Contracts with Individual Plans

[ger5]

In the other thread, I mentioned that "maximums" (or "limits") probably are never adjusted for inflation. (I'm talking aboug indiv. plans with annual contracts, like BCBS..and although it's "annual", they cannot drop you, unless......your a bad boy, etc.). Anyway, that raises some interesting questions:

Do co-pays ever change? For ex., with my bcbs plan, the co-pay is $25 for an office visit, and that hasn't changed for years. So it's nice they haven't adjusted it for inflation.

My deductible will never change?...also nice that it's not adjusted for inflation....I suppose the premium increases take care of that.

But it's not nice that they never adjust the annual drug max ($1500) for inflation. Maybe
they think it's not subject to inflation, and drug costs might decrease (more generics available), or more "drug programs" available
for people with bad coverage, etc.

 

[TXINSURANCE]

Re: annual contracts with indiv. plans.....

Your contract can change if they choose.

Your co pay and plan benefits are NOT locked in forever, they can change on you at virtually any time.

This is common in the industry. My original individual plan covered full maternity after deductible, they simply mailed me a letter stating as of XX/XXXX maternity is no longer a covered service.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

Re: annual contracts with indiv. plans.....

As TX said, they can replace your plan with a new plan and pricing. This happened to my clients on the Assurant 192 Series - they all received a letter stating "new plan, new benefits and oh....new rates" - the "new rates" of course are designed for force everyone to cancel.

 

[michaelsavannah]

Re: annual contracts with indiv. plans.....

Nothing in a contract is "locked-in" unless specifically stated as locked-in (or guaranteed) for a specific period of time.