It bugs the hell out of me that a law was just passed that won’t take effect for years. The government just gave private corporations a four-year window to do whatever they can get away with. When they gave credit card companies a 1-2 year warning, look what they did to us – limits are halved, interest rates have been doubled, some folks had their monthly balance repayment % increase by 150% with 30 days’ notice, new fees are being created out of thin air, annual fees for responsible cardholders are set to make a return, fixed rate cards have been unilaterally turned into variable rate ones which will allow CC companies to continue some of their mercenary antics, and I’m sure there’s plenty of other sneaky-bastard manoeuvring that I’ve missed.
So I’m wondering, what can health insurance companies do to us over the next four years? I can think of the obvious (increasing rates, limiting coverage, etc), but hey, those credit card companies got diabolically inventive. You know that insurance companies are even more capable of – and unapologetic about – an inhuman yet somehow legal lack of ethics and fairness.
Care to share any predictions?
MoneyMate Kate 
I totally agree that the next couple of years are going to be worse than the last in terms of premium. I work for a family business in Brooklyn and 2 years ago our premiums increased by 35% so we switched companies and that resulted in an increase of only 10%. This year the renewal came up and it was an increase of 39%. Uh, totally ridiculous. So we switched to a high deductible health plan with much lower premiums which I don’t think will even be allowed under the new legislation. Our agent told us that the increase that was going into effect the following month for the HDHP was 20% over what we are paying now. Come next year who knows what it would be. I don’t agree with the legislation, in particular the individual mandate, and I don’t think it is going top solve anything.
I’m sure they’ll come up with numerous ways to screw us around. They always do!
I have a credit card that I’ve had for 8 years & recently the interest rate skyrocketed to 18% (from 8%) out of nowhere! I pay it on time, every month. When I called them to ask why it went up & to have it brought back down they told me, “Sorry it’s because of worsening economic conditions, there’s nothing we can do”. Excuse me??? That really set me over the edge & I told them actually, those economic conditions have little to do with me, but more what YOUR company & countless others did to the American people.
Apparently they sent me a letter back in January telling me of the increase but you know what? I assumed it was junk mail since they send me countless other pieces of garbage each week! Needless to say I’m transferring the balance over to another card which I’m sure, will also screw me in the end.
Does it ever end?!?! Sorry for the vent!