In August of last year, my family received the letter from BCBSTX that we were dreading but expecting. Our health care policy would be canceled at the end of 2014 and we had to select a new plan by the end of the year. Really, we had until December 15th, but that little detail was left out of the correspondence. But, we couldn't act on the letter's advice until after the midterm elections and new plans and pricing were finally revealed in November 2014, leaving a month to decide.
When we finally could see the options, only one option appeared to fit our health care needs. After recovering from the initial sticker shock, my husband said find a cheaper option. I spoke to an agent who confirmed that BCBSTX only offered one HSA option. Both my husband and I are self-employed, and for our tax situation it makes sense to have a plan attached to a health savings account, but previously we had only paid $750.00 per month for a PPO plan. Add to that an additional $540 per month contribution to the HSA means that last year we were paying $1,290.00 each month for health insurance. 
The cheapest option we could find was an HMO plan for $853.66 per month. However, this option had two major problems: 1) no HSA option and 2) not one of our current doctors would take it. I called each of our doctors to verify what insurance they would take. Every, single one said no HMO, no Silver plans, and no subsidized plan. So, basically, we could go this route, forgo the health savings account and begin the process of finding new doctors. I looked at the doctor options and little choice was available in our immediate area. And, in the midst of utter confusion, we missed the deadline, giving us two more months to determine the best plan for our family needs.
We are a family of four and have a young son who will be turning five in two weeks. The relationship we have with his pediatrician is important. When he was two, he went for what appeared to him to be a cup on the bedside table in his sister's room. It was a jar of coins, but he tried to drink out of it getting a penny lodged in his throat. The penny removal cost us, out-of-pocket, $6K which is now the proposed individual deductible for any plan we select.
So, this week we bit the bullet and decided it was in our family's best interest to retain doctor relationships. Last year, both my husband and I had a bout with skin cancer and rely on periodic screenings from our dermatologist. Both my son and I suffer from seasonal allergies and rely on the relationship we have with the allergist to prescribe the most effective medicine to avoid nasty sinus and ear infections. But, the final cost was slightly more due to the addition of a dental plan which is required for any child under the age of 18. Our new monthly BCBSTX insurance bill is $1,380.61 per month. Add to that, on average, $665 per month to catch up with the HSA contributions and the total pain comes to $2,045.61 per month, an overall increase of $751.61. I guess Obama was right when he said we could keep our doctor and plan we liked. We just have to pay a whole lot more for it.
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