Health Insurance Costs

Both of us are fortunate enough to be able to get group health insurance through our employers, and we've been able to pick from a variety of options each year. 

We just found out that, for the upcoming year, the cost will be increasing yet again while benefits will decrease. If we want to stay with the same carrier, we will need to pay $750/year more for the two of us, and $1000/year more if we need to upgrade to a "family" plan. 

We can switch insurance companies and our out-of-pocket cost won't change, but I'm hesitant to chance because the new company is one that I've never really heard of. I looked online and it appears to be a national company, and a pretty big one, but it's not that commonplace in this area. 

We have a HMO plan, where we have to see our primary care physician and get referrals for everything, and it seems to work well enough for us. Both of our doctors can get us in for appointments in a reasonable amount of time, and they accept several different insurances.