Santa Cruz County: A tough year to buy health insurance
Those with a doctor at
Both Health Net and
"Yikes," said
"We hope to successfully complete these renewals by the end of 2016 to avoid any disruptions in care," the notice read.
On Friday,
In
In 2013,
This is why health insurance in the
In August,
Premiums for
But residents can't see
Three times, her appointment with a gynecologist at the
On Monday, the Dignity Dominican medical group moved the obstetrics and gynecology office to
By comparison, Palo Alto Medical Foundation Santa Cruz has nine ob/gyn physicians.
Officials with Covered California have been urging people to sign up for health insurance, touting the fact that premiums on average would increase 13 percent.
The percentage of healthier millennials age 18 to 34 signing up for health insurance through Covered California has grown from 29 percent in 2014 to 34 percent in 2015 and 38 percent in 2016, keeping premiums from soaring.
But
Assemblyman
"So far, my staff and I haven't seen the evidence to justify the rate difference for our region," Stone said.
As the owner of Jim's Handyman Service, his income fluctuates each year, so his eligibility for subsidies through Covered California fluctuates, too.
He was expecting a 20 percent rate increase so he was surprised that renewing his
"Region 9 --
He pointed to a 2015 think tank study by
"This pre-dates the Affordable Care Act and is primarily caused by limited competition among hospitals, higher hospital prices and lack of managed care," Hicks said. "This is why we are so pleased that we were able to negotiate with
Some 2,000 senior citizens in
"I still have people every day in denial that it is going away," said Fugitt-Hetrick, the
COVERED
Here are sample 2017 monthly premiums from the Covered California rate book for a 25-year-old in
Plan Bronze Silver Gold Platinum
Anthem EPO--
Blue Shield HMO*--NA
Blue Shield PPO**--
Health Net EPO--
Kaiser Permanente HMO
--EPO: No out-of-network coverage
*--HMO: Only care by in-network providers covered
***PPO: In-network providers discount rates, out-of-network providers don't
Insurer Market share Rate hike
Anthem EPO 64% 26-36%
Blue Shield PPO 32% 19-25%
Health Net EPO 4% 22-24%
Source: Covered California
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