I mentioned previously that I'm the Plan Administrator for my work's health insurance. Part of that job means I receive emails from the health insurance company. Recently, they sent me an email telling me they would be making changes to their prescription coverage soon and offering me the opportunity to attend a webinar regarding this change. I went ahead and signed up since it's free and more information couldn't hurt, right?
There could not be a drier webinar out there! Wow! And more pointedly than that, it seemed to me to have an ulterior motive. The entire presentation was focused on why the changes were made. Not in a helpful, informative way but in a defensive, we-swear-we're-not-in-bed-with-the-drug-companies way. It could be me and my cynicism (when did I develop that!?)and beliefs on the subject, admittedly. However, it seems like 5 slides detailing why this drug is paid over that drug is excessive. I honestly couldn't tell you much more about the webinar because at a certain point I decided I had better things to do with my time.
I definitely think this webinar was a marketing ploy by the large health insurance company to try make clients (whether that's employers or the insured or both) believe they are really looking out for their best interests and not the monsters the media and government are making them out to be lately. I don't buy it. I fully recognize there are more problems with our system than just the big, greedy health insurance companies. But it sure is a good place to start!
Monday, March 15, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Health Insurance (Yes, I'm going there)
I'm frustrated about health insurance today. I have a somewhat unique perspective on the issue. I have a pre-existing condition (chronic asthma) and I am the health insurance administrator for my employer. So I see the issue from the sick person's perspective and from the employer's perspective.
Here's a scenario playing out all over the country this month, last month, many times every month:
It's renewal time for a company's insurance policy. Rates went up. I know that's a shocker considering the recent media coverage of skyrocketing premiums. Company owners and managers everywhere are experiencing a rise in blood pressure. One of the first reactions of many of these bosses is to question if they even have to offer health insurance. After year after year of increasing premiums, they want to get off the train to nowhere. Can't we just pay our employees more and ask them to get their own insurance? There is never any requirement for a company to provide health insurance (for now). Giving them money and asking them to find individual insurance would put people like me in a bad place personally because of pre-existing conditions or family members with pre-exes.
So the long and short, ladies and gentleman (that's assuming any people read this!), is, if the boss cancels health insurance, people like me, everywhere, are screwed! As if unemployment rates and a recession aren't enough to deal with.
I wanted to cry this morning. Thinking about the situations like this and my own precarious one.These business owners know "something has to change." I'm unashamedly a Democrat. I very much want health insurance reform. After today, I demand it. But politics aside, how can many of these businessmen with one breath agree with at least the spirit of health care reform and in the next ridicule it? I understand that maybe they don't agree with how Obama is going about getting reform. I understand that maybe they think the measures aren't the way to do it. I understand that they (like many Republicans) are scared of how much money it will cost our nation. But they stare at renewal forms with exorbitant rates and still can't see the need for change? I feel that the Republicans as a group don't want health insurance not because they don't care about the issue or the people it affects. I feel their political hatred (yes, hatred) has blinded them to what the Democrats are trying to do, in theory if nothing else. They want to stop Democrats so badly that they forget it means stopping a clear chance at changing this broken system. At changing a situation where a couple can be gainfully employed and have no option to insure themselves and their children with the knowledge that one big unexpected medical event could put them into long term debt. And, sadly, that's probably the most benign of the problems created by our system.
It's time to put aside our labels and decide that we no longer want the insurance companies to put each and every one of us over a barrel. It's time to stand up for the guy who lives next to you who has cancer and can choose to pay his electric bill or his chemotherapy bill because he can't work and he can't afford to pay COBRA prices and he can't get individual coverage. It's time to stand up for yourself and the person next to you because that's what Americans do! We look out for each other. We're not always good at it and sometimes we forget. But let's remember. Let's work together and find a solution! The fighting is getting us nowhere and frankly, it's heartless.
One of the solutions proposed is to make it so that people have to choose which procedures and/or tests are preformed based on cost. Let's think about that for a moment. Arbitrary medical services are never good. BUT, are you really asking us to consider if we REALLY need open heart surgery because it costs so much? Wouldn't medication be cheaper? So what if I suffer from a long list of side effects and still die in a few years! At least I can afford my car payment! SERIOUSLY? If it was your child, Mr. Congressman, Ms. Pundit, would that be your choice for them? Would you ask them not to consider the procedure or test based on what they medically need but on the cost? That is utterly ridiculous.
I have my own thoughts on how to fix the system. But you don't want to hear them. All I want to tell you is that I am ashamed (yes, I said it!) of my country right now. I'm ashamed of the people who cannot get over their own selfish ambitions or desire for profit enough to find a way that every person in this country can live with as little pain and as long as possible. Because we're not talking here about who will be elected this year or next or the next. We're talking about how long Joe will live or how long Suzy has to suffer with horrible pain. We're talking about the difference between John making it to his 12th birthday or Grandpa being there to see the baby take his first steps. I hope the lawmakers and insurance companies find a way to realize that TODAY and put an end to all this!
Here's a scenario playing out all over the country this month, last month, many times every month:
It's renewal time for a company's insurance policy. Rates went up. I know that's a shocker considering the recent media coverage of skyrocketing premiums. Company owners and managers everywhere are experiencing a rise in blood pressure. One of the first reactions of many of these bosses is to question if they even have to offer health insurance. After year after year of increasing premiums, they want to get off the train to nowhere. Can't we just pay our employees more and ask them to get their own insurance? There is never any requirement for a company to provide health insurance (for now). Giving them money and asking them to find individual insurance would put people like me in a bad place personally because of pre-existing conditions or family members with pre-exes.
So the long and short, ladies and gentleman (that's assuming any people read this!), is, if the boss cancels health insurance, people like me, everywhere, are screwed! As if unemployment rates and a recession aren't enough to deal with.
I wanted to cry this morning. Thinking about the situations like this and my own precarious one.These business owners know "something has to change." I'm unashamedly a Democrat. I very much want health insurance reform. After today, I demand it. But politics aside, how can many of these businessmen with one breath agree with at least the spirit of health care reform and in the next ridicule it? I understand that maybe they don't agree with how Obama is going about getting reform. I understand that maybe they think the measures aren't the way to do it. I understand that they (like many Republicans) are scared of how much money it will cost our nation. But they stare at renewal forms with exorbitant rates and still can't see the need for change? I feel that the Republicans as a group don't want health insurance not because they don't care about the issue or the people it affects. I feel their political hatred (yes, hatred) has blinded them to what the Democrats are trying to do, in theory if nothing else. They want to stop Democrats so badly that they forget it means stopping a clear chance at changing this broken system. At changing a situation where a couple can be gainfully employed and have no option to insure themselves and their children with the knowledge that one big unexpected medical event could put them into long term debt. And, sadly, that's probably the most benign of the problems created by our system.
It's time to put aside our labels and decide that we no longer want the insurance companies to put each and every one of us over a barrel. It's time to stand up for the guy who lives next to you who has cancer and can choose to pay his electric bill or his chemotherapy bill because he can't work and he can't afford to pay COBRA prices and he can't get individual coverage. It's time to stand up for yourself and the person next to you because that's what Americans do! We look out for each other. We're not always good at it and sometimes we forget. But let's remember. Let's work together and find a solution! The fighting is getting us nowhere and frankly, it's heartless.
One of the solutions proposed is to make it so that people have to choose which procedures and/or tests are preformed based on cost. Let's think about that for a moment. Arbitrary medical services are never good. BUT, are you really asking us to consider if we REALLY need open heart surgery because it costs so much? Wouldn't medication be cheaper? So what if I suffer from a long list of side effects and still die in a few years! At least I can afford my car payment! SERIOUSLY? If it was your child, Mr. Congressman, Ms. Pundit, would that be your choice for them? Would you ask them not to consider the procedure or test based on what they medically need but on the cost? That is utterly ridiculous.
I have my own thoughts on how to fix the system. But you don't want to hear them. All I want to tell you is that I am ashamed (yes, I said it!) of my country right now. I'm ashamed of the people who cannot get over their own selfish ambitions or desire for profit enough to find a way that every person in this country can live with as little pain and as long as possible. Because we're not talking here about who will be elected this year or next or the next. We're talking about how long Joe will live or how long Suzy has to suffer with horrible pain. We're talking about the difference between John making it to his 12th birthday or Grandpa being there to see the baby take his first steps. I hope the lawmakers and insurance companies find a way to realize that TODAY and put an end to all this!
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