Anthem Blue Cross seeks to raise individual policyholders' rates (18% average)

[CrawlingChaos]

36. Got the letter yesterday - spent the afternoon in tears

25% increase as of Feb. 1. I don't know what we're going to do; who can pay these prices?! They only just raised our premium 20% only 4 months ago. Let me tell about that little scam.

About a year ago we moved across town, and since our premiums are paid by auto-pay, and our policy is a junk policy we don't dare use (we don't actually go to the doctor; can't afford it) - I took my time notifying Anthem of the address change. When I finally got around to it, a letter arrived stating that because of our move, our rates were going up 20%, because rates were higher in our new zip code.

If by chance you know the SF Bay Area, we moved from Campbell to Mountain View. These are essentially identical towns, for all intents and purposes. So we couldn't afford that increase, and I called in frustration to ask how this could be. The rep on the phone said people in our new zip code went to the doctor more than people in our old zip code (bullshit).

Then I said to the rep, well, OK, we're actually thinking of leaving the Bay Area altogether, and can you tell me which areas in California have the lower premium rates? He says that information is not available to the consumer, but if I give him a specific zip code, he'll quote me the rate. Well I gave him zip codes from some of the poorest areas I could think of in the state, and what do you know, he quoted me the higher rate for every single one. Finally I said you mean to tell me that we just moved out of the ONE and ONLY town in California that had a 20% lower rate? Then he announced I was being "stupid" and that this "wasn't his job" and ended the call. They are such liars.

I was actually quite fearful afterwards, wondering if they'd do something vindictive as a result of my call. We do hear such stories.

We are truly in despair. It's going to be so hard to get by, and as tempting as it is to drop the policy, it would be a terrible gamble to lose the catastrophic coverage at our age. If we lost everything we have, we could never recover.

Praying we get some help from the ACA next year, and that maybe it will be enough to pull us back from the brink. Although the thought of how much obscene profit Anthem will realize from the ACA ... now THAT is making me sick.