[Hidden-tech] 25% Hike for MA Small Business Health Insurance Rates

[Chris Hoogendyk]

Cheryl Handsaker wrote:
> We have used Tufts and Fallon and HNE. In fact, we had HNE until the 
> middle of this month (when my husband became an employee of a long 
> time client). We belong to the Shelburne Falls Area Business 
> Association. As a member you can apply with the association group 
> through HSA  to get the group rate and have all the options. For us, 
> HNE was the least expensive option this year. Blackmer Insurance (or 
> other knowledgeable health insurance agent) can help you choose the 
> most affordable plan - and none really are affordable :-).
>
> Our costs go up at least 10% and usually more like 15% a year and the 
> only way to keep it closer to 10% is to change insurance companies 
> every year. This is an incredible hassle but worth the money often.
>


I totally understand that costs are an issue. In the past few years we 
have gone from saving money to draining our savings, with no change in 
life style (actually with some efforts to cut expenses) -- it's just 
that costs continue to go up and income has not.

However, . . .

There is the other end of insurance. What are the payouts, limits and 
hassles when disaster strikes? My family has had multiple disasters in 
the last few years.

My younger daughter was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma two years ago. 
One of the few good news items was when the Nurse Practitioner asked me 
what insurance we had. I told her we had the State GIC Indemnity Plus 
Plan. She said, "Good. You will be completely covered." Over the course 
of the following year, they paid out well over $100,000. I paid 
something like $1000 in copays and deductibles. That included a trip to 
Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston for consultation and a continued 
relationship between the Doctor there and our Doctor here at Cooley 
Dickenson. Of course, the other good news was that Hodgkin's Lymphoma is 
essentially curable now. My daughter is well and will be starting her 
junior year at Mt. Holyoke this fall.

This summer my wife had surgery to remove a benign meningioma from the 
surface of her brain. She came out paralyzed on her right side and has 
spent three weeks so far in a rehabilitation hospital (it's all coming 
back and we still have hopes of hiking on our anniversary in October). I 
have had no questions or problems at all so far with insurance and 
assume that the vast majority of the extreme expenses will be covered by 
the insurance.

At this point, I am the only member of my family who has not been in a 
hospital for an extended period during the last few years. I just turned 
60 last year and I need to stay in good health, but I can't necessarily 
depend on that. Good health insurance coverage is a must. If it costs 
more on a month to month basis, then I'll just have to bite that bullet 
and cut somewhere else, or find some part time consulting for extra income.

Somewhere around ten years ago we were on Health New England. That was 
basically a cost decision. After experiencing higher costs for actual 
medical care and hassles over payment, we made the decision to choose a 
better insurance plan rather than a cheaper insurance plan. For us, it 
has paid off.

In a way, it is sort of like playing the lottery. You throw money away 
in hopes of making (or saving) money. The difference is that with the 
lottery you know the odds are against your ever coming out ahead. All 
the costs are up front, and a very very few people hit it rich (amid 
much publicity). On the average, most people are just paying additional 
taxes to the state by buying lottery tickets.

With health insurance the game and the odds are quite different. You are 
paying up front for your coverage, and you still have a risk of future 
expenses. If you pay more up front, you may have less risk of higher out 
of pocket expenses in the future. If you cut corners up front, you may 
end up bankrupt in the future for your decisions. And the odds of the 
event of getting sick are far higher than the odds of winning the 
lottery. If you end up without any medical crises you may feel like 
kicking yourself for paying too much for insurance, but you never know 
when disaster might strike. My daughter was only 20. My wife is 58.


-- 
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Chris Hoogendyk

-
   O__  ---- Systems Administrator
  c/ /'_ --- Biology & Geology Departments
 (*) \(*) -- 140 Morrill Science Center
~~~~~~~~~~ - University of Massachusetts, Amherst 

<hoogendyk at bio.umass.edu>

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Erdös 4