Health Insurance from a small business owner’s point of view
I have no intention for this blog to become a political forum, but I would like those of you who have employer sponsored health insurance to know how the other half lives when it comes to getting our own insurance.
I used to have a “real job”, working for a large department store chain. They offered me a buyout about 16 years ago, and before I accepted it, my husband and I had physicals to be sure that we would not be turned down for health insurance. I knew that if some health issues came up, we would have trouble getting it. I took my COBRA coverage for a year and then got my own insurance. As soon as my real estate company was doing well enough for me to incorporate and I had employees to cover, I got group insurance. It was a nice benefit to offer my employees, and it gave my husband and I some assurance that as we got older, if we were diagnosed with something somewhat serious, we would not have any issues with having our insurance renewed each year.
The last few years, my insurance rates have gone up by 20% or more every year. I have switched companies, increased my deductibles, and done whatever I could to keep the rates reasonable. This year, my premiums for my husband and myself, now 60 years old, would have been $1400 a month with more than a $3,000 deductible. True, my employer was paying half, so my share was $700, but I am my employer! $1400 a month for two healthy people is just too much money and I cannot afford to pay that, especially in today’s real estate market. I dropped my group coverage, which also meant that I was no longer covering my team members. I just simply cannot do it any more at those prices. Those of you with group coverage from your work probably have no idea what your insurance coverage really costs because your employer pays a substantial percentage of it. How much longer can employers continue to provide coverage?
What I found was that individual insurance is much less expensive than group coverage. Because people with health issues cannot get affordable individual insurance, they go to work for companies that provide it to them. As a result, group insurance is much more expensive overall, as the groups of people who have it are sicker than those who have individual coverage.
My husband and I, and my team members, now have individual insurance at about half the cost of the group coverage. I was able to find a policy that locks in the rate for three years if I pay a higher rate for it now. They tell me that they cannot cancel me unless I don’t pay the premium, no matter how sick I get. I have my doubts about that, but I have my fingers crossed. I am healthy, and plan on staying that way. At the end of three years, I am sure I will have to pay a huge rate for one year, but after that we both will be old enough for Medicare, and I can just get a supplemental policy. Then my issue will be finding a doctor that will accept Medicare. Many do not. My Dad has had issues with finding a doctor because of it. He ends up having to go to the emergency room when his asthma gets bad.
I was born in New Zealand, a country with the feared system here in the US, of socialized medicine. I have family members there who are covered by it. They are happy with it and they are amazed at what we have to pay for insurance. Socialized medicine is not the bad thing it is made out to be here, and is truly worth a look. As long as “for profit” businesses like insurance companies are responsible for our health care, they will always try to get out of paying claims and will only try to provide insurance to the healthy people that don’t use it. Anything that benefits insurance companies does not benefit me, so I look with a sceptical eye at the health plans being put forward that they are supporting. I don’t plan on this being a political discussion, but would like those of you with employer paid health coverage to know why many who are self-employed are wanting other options. We need them.
Here, here. The thing is I think it is starting to creep into the masses. Everybody knows somebody who was “let go” or was let go themselves. For employer-based to work you have to have an employer.
It is pure garbage, but the problem is that the U.S. is a competitive, individualistic society. The individual comes before society. It is a sad notion and while I wholeheartedly agree socialized works well in a great many places (Austria for example) in this country we will back into it and it is almost counter-cultural. I think it works at the state-level (where we have blue and red states and the blue states are more accepting of something like this), but from a national perspective it will be tough.
So, with that said let’s hope Colorado becomes more progressive in this area in the coming years. I agree 100% with you Joanne because this truly is the issue of our time right now. Something positive needs to be done.
We are in step here Jim. I am an American because I chose to be one, but I have always been bothered by the “me first” attitude that seems to be so prevalent. You said what I have always said, that the rights of the individual come before what is best for the community. I can think of many instances but don’t want to start any arguments as I know there are many who wouldn’t consider any other way. Often the individual’s rights and what is best for the population as a whole are at odds, but the individual almost always wins out.
I also cannot see socialized medicine being accepted here, but what is the VA but socialized medicine? From what I understand from veterans, it is the best health care going!
Another “here here” from two small business owners in one family. My husband and I have individual coverage through an HSA which started out at about $600/month for the priveledge of paying for all our expenses up to $5,800 per year, which meant that we were paying roughly $1100 per month to pay the premium and fund the HSA. My husband’s cholesterol drugs were excluded and did not go toward the deductible. That cost for the monthly premium has just risen to $830/month for the ensuing year, so total cost per month to support drugs and basic care is over $1300/month. We are now looking at group insurance since the cost of individual vs group coverage seems to be about the same at this point. We have tried five – yes 5 – applications for individual coverage to other health insurance companies over the last 18 months and one of us has been denied for petty reasons. It is interestlng that each Company will take one of us but not the other – and it is a different one for each company!! Like Joanne, we are both very healthy but we get nailed for being proactive about our health, identifying potential health risks and trying to do something about them.
I agree that many folks are starting to see the real cost of health coverage with the large numbers of layoffs, as well as the problem getting coverage if you are not in PERFECT health. One trip to an orthopedic doc for me with a cortisone shot resulted in my rejection by the insurance company since I now had a “history” of knee problems! Ridiculous!
I hope the scare tactics by the opposition will be drowned out by those reasonable folks in the middle. Certainly, so called “socialized” health care can be no worse than the broken system we have now.
It almost makes one want to retreat to the security of a regular job! But many of those jobs will be without health insurance too, as employers stop offering it when it no longer fits within budgets. I talked to someone this weekend who manages a small radio station, and they recently had to drop their insurance for their employees. Once these people who are comfortable with their insurance coverage no longer have it, they will change their tune and stop trying to keep the rest of us from getting affordable insurance coverage. Thanks for visiting Laura!