We're outraged that in the last year health insurance companies earned 56% more in profits and covered 2.7 million fewer people. And, healthcare insurance rate hikes of up to 39 percent are now happening across the country!Why don't they stop being outraged for a moment and shop their policies? If their current vendor is such a rip-off, it sounds like a great opportunity for another insurance vendor to get its foot in the door. I cannot understand the mindset of just sitting and stewing about what your vendors are doing. It seems simple just to shop the quote to keep them honest and spend most of your effort finding ways to create value for your customers or employers.
I say this because I don't think the outrage is going to do anything. Even if the outrage make politicians carry out some very specific policy, it's not going to make people provide a service for free. Even if the government makes health insurance as we know it illegal, so the risk is sensibly spread among the entire population instead of being spread among those who bought insurance prior to be coming sick, we will still be paying the same amount overall for the same services.
Charles, in all seriousness-educate yourself a little bit. There is a reason certain insurers control up to 90% (and more) of a lot of state markets. This isn't like choosing a new oven, or a new car, or even new car insurance.
ReplyDeleteYou're telling me in all seriousness people can't just go and get some quotes?
ReplyDeleteI actually have been a Bluecross customer since 2005. I buy it through a CA employer. The prices have indeed increased since then (something like 60%). I shopped them twice, and they're still competitive with GHC, Assurant, and whatever the state bar and IEEE offer. If this rate increase affects me, I'll shop it again and look into increasing our deductible (currently $5000).
It's exactly like making any other large financial decision and nothing to get all fired up about.
No, people can't always go out and shop around. Sometimes you already have the 'cheapest' that you can find. Other times (as in my family's case) someone develops something that is NOW a pre-existing condition. I've been with three different companies in the last ten years. I had one add a 20% surcharge to my rates and said that they'd remove that surcharge *as long as I didn't seek any treatment for headaches* I'd gone to a doctor for one a few months before switching insurance companies.
ReplyDeleteI had one insurance company raise my rates 50% simply because they said they weren't making enough money, and then the following month the rates went up another 50% because I'd entered a new age bracket.
My current insurance company (the only one that agreed to take me after I was rejected by multiple companies) offered minimal mental health care when I signed up for it but then decided that it was too expensive so it was dropped. When I complained they threatened to go over my medical history with a fine toothed comb to see if I "forgot" to mention anything on my application.
So, no, you can't always switch. Not if you actually have a reason why you might need insurance because they only want you if you are 20 and healthy.
@namian
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment.
The people selling you insurance see themselves as protecting you against unlikely perils. You have to pay for perils that have already occurred by working out a deal with healthcare providers to pay them directly.
I would recommend getting together a decent bit of money and trying to find a provider who will treat you for that amount. The only insurance you need then is high-deductible coverage for unlikely expensive problems. (I can’t imagine the difficulty of working out a deal when you’re sick.)
I support programs to help people truly can’t afford to pay for their healthcare expenses.
However you get care, I hope you feel better. Thanks again for the personal comment.
Health outcomes are worse in the US than they are for those in some European nations, even comparing fully insured Americans to the lower classes in the social democracies.
ReplyDeleteThe only way I can shop around would be to move to a social democracy. Except I can't. Although capital is highly mobile and companies are free to invest all over the world, labor is immobile. I can't emigrate unless I somehow manage to get employer sponsorship, political amnesty, or marry a citizen.
Maybe we should give up the notion that markets can do everything and instead provide socialized medicine here?