Ben, I believe the whole point to this discussion is that we have not been able to beat down the cost in MA. Example: I belong to Mass. Business Association, which is supposed to provide "group" pricing, but even with that, I'm almost up to $800 per month for my family. Imagine if I didn't get the "discounted" or "bargained" rate! (BTW, I strongly believe that you don't get something for nothing - it's obvious that the "baragined" rates are no bargain!) As Amy and Jeanne have said, I believe we should try and organize a meeting to discover our options. I wonder if getting insurance through a different state might be an option? I had insurance through BCBS of Maine once, and the deal was pretty good, and I had no issues with being out of state. Thanks, Bhavin On Mar 1, 2005, at 12:05 PM, Ben Liyanage wrote: > ** This message was posted by a good Hidden-tech Member > ** who has helped the group by filling out the survey/skills > ** inventory in the member's area. > ** So Please signin today and add your information. > > > Yikes!!! It sounds like you are all paying through the nose for your > health > insurance... > > I get my bcbs through a company I used to work with in MD for > something like > 200/mo. It sounds to me like a bargaining collective is needed to > drive > down all of your insurance costs. I know I most certainly don't cost > the > health insurance companies 24k/yr, and I'm not even paying that much in > comparison to you guys... > > Though I'm not really shopping for health insurance at the moment, I > would > be interested in seeing how to set up a health insurance co-op of > sorts that > could help beat this fat industry down to size. How many people would > be > interested in this? > > Ben Liyanage > 410.336.2464 > ben at smartankgroup.com > http://www.benliyanage.com > On Mar 3, 2005, at 10:00 AM, Jeanne Yocum wrote: > ** This message was posted by a good Hidden-tech Member > ** who has helped the group by filling out the survey/skills > ** inventory in the member's area. > ** So Please signin today and add your information. > > > Hi, > > I would be happy to take Amy up on her request for someone to > organize a meeting on the topic of health insurance if someone else is > willing to jump in and help me. Any volunteers? > > I was thinking we could do a joint meeting with the National Writers > Union, another group I belong to whose members also struggle with this > issue. > > > -- Jeanne Yocum > Tuscarora Communications, Ltd. > 413-467-9470 > www.yourghostwriter.com > > > -----Original Message----- > From: hidden-discuss-bounces at lists.hidden-tech.net > [mailto:hidden-discuss-bounces at lists.hidden-tech.net]On Behalf Of > Jeanne > Yocum > Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2005 10:57 AM > To: Hidden Tech Discussion List > Subject: [Hidden-tech] Health Savings Accounts > > >> From: Christian Lagier <clagier at sprynet.com> >> Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 17:38:59 -0500 >> To: Jonathan Dill <jfdill at jfdill.com> >> Cc: hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net >> Subject: [Hidden-tech] Health insurance - HSA experience? >> >> Does anybody have any experince with HSAs in Massachusetts? Who >> provides >> them? > > Hi, > > Having received my April invoice from Harvard Pilgrim yesterday that > showed > a 14% increase for the year which takes my insurance to over > $400/month for > coverage for just one person, I called my broker and asked about the > Health > Savings Accounts that I had heard were coming. They told me Harvard > Pilgrim > was just introducing one, but the cost of it for me would be over $500 > a > month! Don't mean to be discouraging, but apparently the pricing on > these > isn't going to be any more affordable, although perhaps the coverage is > better. > > Jeanne Yocum > _______________________________________________ > Hidden-discuss mailing list - home page: http://www.hidden-tech.net > Hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net > > You are receiving this because you are on the Hidden-Tec Discussion > list. > If you would like to change your list preferences, Go to the Members > page on the Hidden Tech Web site. > http://www.hidden-tech.net/members > > _______________________________________________ > Hidden-discuss mailing list - home page: http://www.hidden-tech.net > Hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net > > You are receiving this because you are on the Hidden-Tech Discussion > list. > If you would like to change your list preferences, Go to the Members > page on the Hidden Tech Web site. > http://www.hidden-tech.net/members >