I cannot keep my health plan Mr. President

I was not able to keep my health insurance policy, even though our current POTUS said I could.

"If you like your health plan, you can keep your health care plan"

President Obama

We got the letter the other day.  By “we” I mean our company’s H.R. department and by the “letter” I mean the one that informs us of a change to our future health insurance policy rate, that letter.  Quite a few American citizens are getting it as well.

Our company provides health insurance to every employee (at no cost to our fellow tax payers I might add.)  Over the last 5 years we have been able to manage the costs and keep premiums under control.  One year we were even able to lower the premium by using smart and educated free market solutions, the good old days.  Further, every new policy had equal or better access to health care.

Our policy, per year, for a company of 20 employees (and more if you include spouses and family which are all covered) was $88,000.  That works out to $4,400.00 per family for our company policy. And this is for great health care; any doctor, anywhere at any time.   The letter informs us that the price of the new policy will be $215,000 per year; that would be a 144% increase in yearly premium.  If we like our insurance plan we can keep it as long as we do not mind going broke.

As we looked into this new rate we also learned something more.  We cannot keep our current policy.  The ACA demands we lower our high deductible plan which also helped to raise our premium.  We are not allowed to have the plan we want or keep the one we had.  Last and maybe not least, our policy coverage changed as well.  New rules and regulations force us to have "this" new coverage and not "that" one.  We now have to fit the new Federal template.

To summarize:

We could not keep our current policy because our current policy is no longer legal under the ACA.

Our policy type is also no longer legal and will have to change accordingly.

Whatever is left of our insurance plan will now cost 144% more than it used to cost.

Now an interesting twist in the cost to the tax payer begins to also become apparent.  This chicken is coming to roost in small businesses around the country.  If our company realizes that we cannot afford the increase and as a result of sanity moves all employees to the ACA exchanges, 95% of the employees will actually be able to get subsidies.  The cost of healthcare for our 20 employees and their families will go from being paid for by our customers to one that is transferred to the few remaining tax payers that can afford to pay for them.  Our employees who used to cost the tax payer nothing will suddenly cost them like never before.

_____________ 

As a follow up to how health insurance could have been reformed.

You see, before the ACA was passed ( late at night with promises and threats by the slimmest of votes and No Republican support) we were able to make choices that helped our company and employees get the most for their dollars.  We use a H.S.A. plan and a high deductible one at that.  For most people, there is no need for the low deductible plan.  If you are even moderately healthy, your costs per year are quite low.  It is simple to look this information up on the web; in general healthy people do not spend that much on health care per year.  Notice that health care and health insurance are different ideas and realities.  Myself, I went to the doctor maybe once a year, at least to get a physical and general check-up.  Why did I need a policy that had a $100.00 deductible?  My home insurance has a high deductible.  My car is the same way.  I am not going to turn in every little item to my insurance company so there is no reason to have a policy that produces and pays for that.   

Insurance is for a major problem, a medical emergency or crisis.  Health insurance is not for the common cold.  Health insurance is not health care.  You can get health care without having health insurance.  You could fix your car or your home without filling an insurance claim.  But I digress.  The use of high deductible health savings plans for emergency are what we should have done to reform health care in America….too late.

Land of the Free……every day we are less free. 

Every day the Government takes some Liberty from us in return for "protection". 

Every day Government grows larger and more powerful.