highnote
10-14-2009, 04:31 AM
OK. Here's my story.
Way back in the early 1990's -- way before my kids were born -- my wife was laid off from her job which provided health insurance. I've always been self-employed. So when she was laid off, we paid for our own health insurance.
We bought a plan from a company called M.D. Healthplan. They were Connecticut based -- that's where we live. They had reasonable and affordable premiums and low co-pays and deductibles and covered almost everything except dental. I know! Sounds almost too good to be true, doesn't it?
Along comes a company called ConnectiCare. One of the big investors in ConnectiCare was George Bush, Sr. Well, ConnectiCare bought M.D. Healthplan. You can guess what happened to our premiums. Due the cost of the acquisition and the need to compensate shareholders, our premiums literally doubled -- and they dropped our plan from their product offerings. They were nice enough to offer us a new plan -- but at twice the price.
My wife found another job and for a few years she got health insurance as a benefit. We had our kids and all the hospital bills were covered.
Then along comes the dot com bust and she gets laid off again.
So I sign up with Golden Rule insurance from Indiana. Turns out their CEO and founder is a big Republican supporter.
Now in the past 3 to 4 years my premiums have gone up 50% and we've never once filed a claim. It's major medical coverage only. Full coverage would be close to $1500 per month. Plus there are still deductibles and co-pays. So we have a $5,000 deductible and we pay for doctor visits when necessary -- usually only about $100 per visit. The co-pays with a full-coverage plan would be $50 so it's not much difference -- but the monthly premiums are lower with a major medical plan.
When I signed up for Golden Rule I chose the $5000 deductible because the premiums were lower than the $2 or $3 thousand deductible plans. I figured I'd insure myself for the extra risk. But it turns out it's not a $5,000 deductible for our family -- it's a $5,000 deductible per person. So if all four people in my family by some chance got in a car crash and had to go to the hospital it would cost us $20,000 out of pocket -- not $5,000 like I thought the plan said and like my insurance agent didn't make clear to me. Hell, it's called the Share Plan 5000. I pay one premium for my family -- not 4 premiums. So you'd think there would only be 1 deductible. Whatever.
OK. So I studied up on insurance and found that George W. Bush signed a bill for the Health Savings Accounts. This allows people to deposit money into an account and the money can be used to pay medical expenses. The deposits are tax deductible -- just like an IRA. Sounds great, right?
So I call up my bank and say I want to open an HSA. They say, what is that? I explain it. They have never heard of it. Connecticut is the insurance capital of the world and my bank has never heard of an HSA.
So I call Golden Rule -- my health insurer and ask about HSA accounts. They offer them, but I have to switch to a different kind of health insurance plan. So great. I give even more money to Golden Rule which they pay low interest on and can loan it out at a higher interest rate. Sounds like a bank, not an insurance company. Whatever.
OK. So it's not a big deal if I have to give them my money so I can get a tax deduction on the deposits. The cost of the plan is about the same or a little more per month than I'm currently paying and it has an actual $5000 per family deductible. But there's a catch -- our whole family has to undergo a medical exam to see if we are fit enough for this new plan.
But wait... I say to them, you, Golden Rule, are already my health insurance provider. Why do I have to undergo an exam just to switch plans that is basically the same as my current plan? The representative says to me, "That's just our policy."
So I say, "So if we get an exam and you find something you don't like, you can turn us down?" She says, "That's right."
"So all this money I've paid you over the past several years means nothing?"
"That's right. You are asking for a new plan."
So now, we'll just stick with the plan we have and wait and see what our government can work out.
By the way, Golden Rule is owned by UnitedHealthcare. One lobbyist working for UnitedHealthcare recently worked for Baucus. Baucus' current assistant recently worked for UnitedHealthcare. That's the revolving door Bill Moyers wrote about in his essay that I posted on PA yesterday.
Now you know why Max Baucus does not want a public health option -- because the private insurance companies are making so much money and are funding his campaign.
Baucus' message to me -- "Too bad for you. I need to get reelected. And in order to get reelected I need money from the health insurance industry. I don't care if you can afford health insurance or not. And if you can't afford it, we're going to make you buy it. And if you can't afford to buy it, we're going to fine you. And I'm going to get reelected."
So that's why I hate the Health Insurance Industry.
Way back in the early 1990's -- way before my kids were born -- my wife was laid off from her job which provided health insurance. I've always been self-employed. So when she was laid off, we paid for our own health insurance.
We bought a plan from a company called M.D. Healthplan. They were Connecticut based -- that's where we live. They had reasonable and affordable premiums and low co-pays and deductibles and covered almost everything except dental. I know! Sounds almost too good to be true, doesn't it?
Along comes a company called ConnectiCare. One of the big investors in ConnectiCare was George Bush, Sr. Well, ConnectiCare bought M.D. Healthplan. You can guess what happened to our premiums. Due the cost of the acquisition and the need to compensate shareholders, our premiums literally doubled -- and they dropped our plan from their product offerings. They were nice enough to offer us a new plan -- but at twice the price.
My wife found another job and for a few years she got health insurance as a benefit. We had our kids and all the hospital bills were covered.
Then along comes the dot com bust and she gets laid off again.
So I sign up with Golden Rule insurance from Indiana. Turns out their CEO and founder is a big Republican supporter.
Now in the past 3 to 4 years my premiums have gone up 50% and we've never once filed a claim. It's major medical coverage only. Full coverage would be close to $1500 per month. Plus there are still deductibles and co-pays. So we have a $5,000 deductible and we pay for doctor visits when necessary -- usually only about $100 per visit. The co-pays with a full-coverage plan would be $50 so it's not much difference -- but the monthly premiums are lower with a major medical plan.
When I signed up for Golden Rule I chose the $5000 deductible because the premiums were lower than the $2 or $3 thousand deductible plans. I figured I'd insure myself for the extra risk. But it turns out it's not a $5,000 deductible for our family -- it's a $5,000 deductible per person. So if all four people in my family by some chance got in a car crash and had to go to the hospital it would cost us $20,000 out of pocket -- not $5,000 like I thought the plan said and like my insurance agent didn't make clear to me. Hell, it's called the Share Plan 5000. I pay one premium for my family -- not 4 premiums. So you'd think there would only be 1 deductible. Whatever.
OK. So I studied up on insurance and found that George W. Bush signed a bill for the Health Savings Accounts. This allows people to deposit money into an account and the money can be used to pay medical expenses. The deposits are tax deductible -- just like an IRA. Sounds great, right?
So I call up my bank and say I want to open an HSA. They say, what is that? I explain it. They have never heard of it. Connecticut is the insurance capital of the world and my bank has never heard of an HSA.
So I call Golden Rule -- my health insurer and ask about HSA accounts. They offer them, but I have to switch to a different kind of health insurance plan. So great. I give even more money to Golden Rule which they pay low interest on and can loan it out at a higher interest rate. Sounds like a bank, not an insurance company. Whatever.
OK. So it's not a big deal if I have to give them my money so I can get a tax deduction on the deposits. The cost of the plan is about the same or a little more per month than I'm currently paying and it has an actual $5000 per family deductible. But there's a catch -- our whole family has to undergo a medical exam to see if we are fit enough for this new plan.
But wait... I say to them, you, Golden Rule, are already my health insurance provider. Why do I have to undergo an exam just to switch plans that is basically the same as my current plan? The representative says to me, "That's just our policy."
So I say, "So if we get an exam and you find something you don't like, you can turn us down?" She says, "That's right."
"So all this money I've paid you over the past several years means nothing?"
"That's right. You are asking for a new plan."
So now, we'll just stick with the plan we have and wait and see what our government can work out.
By the way, Golden Rule is owned by UnitedHealthcare. One lobbyist working for UnitedHealthcare recently worked for Baucus. Baucus' current assistant recently worked for UnitedHealthcare. That's the revolving door Bill Moyers wrote about in his essay that I posted on PA yesterday.
Now you know why Max Baucus does not want a public health option -- because the private insurance companies are making so much money and are funding his campaign.
Baucus' message to me -- "Too bad for you. I need to get reelected. And in order to get reelected I need money from the health insurance industry. I don't care if you can afford health insurance or not. And if you can't afford it, we're going to make you buy it. And if you can't afford to buy it, we're going to fine you. And I'm going to get reelected."
So that's why I hate the Health Insurance Industry.