I suppose my point was that the whole idea of the PEO is that they can negotiate better premiums from the carriers, but that doesn't seem to be the case when put into practice. Insurance rates are definitely the problem. If insurance were affordable, fewer people would have to choose food and shelter over coverage. Sure, some people would still choose to be uninsured, but fewer would be put into the situation of having to choose to be uninsured. The current state of affairs does not allow me to shop for a competing rate vs what my employer (the PEO, actually) offers. Lack of competition helps keep the prices up. We need a competitive marketplace for coverage.
I'm sure to be in the minority, but if the hoopla over the current HC reform bill from the insurance companies is any indication, then this bill is a lot closer to what we need than we've ever been before. The insurance companies claim it will put them out of business, but I call BS on that. It'll cut into their profits by forcing them to cut their premiums to stay competitive--and that's just what we need. -one more New Years' resolution out the window. I made it over half way through August before getting sucked into one of these threads. Maybe next year. On Thu, Aug 20, 2009 at 10:56 AM, C. Hatton Humphrey <[email protected]>wrote: > > > Our company uses one of these services, from a company that claims it's > one > > of the largest in the nation. And let me tell you, $759 a month is not an > > affordable insurance premium for a family of 3. And that's the cheap, > > high-deductible insurance. The "standard" coverage insurance is $100 > more. > > And it goes up ~15% every year without fail, while at the same time > lowering > > coverage. Hell, 3 years ago when we moved to this company, it doubled our > > premiums and lowered our care. That level of increased cost and decreased > > coverage is unacceptable and at the same time unavoidable. Right now > there > > aren't any other options. We need something that will provide competition > to > > the insurance companies and drive these premiums down. > > The current bill may not be the answer, but at least someone is finally > > asking the questions. > > Those premiums are set by the insurance companies, not by us - and > yes, that's the biggest part of the problem. My monthly premium at > the moment is $875/mo - work covers $275 of that but still... My first > job out of college had health care 100% employer paid! > > Insurance rates, like I said, are the biggest part of the problem... > the question is how do we attack those rates? Do we go after the > companies that charge them, the doctors that set them, the patients > who use them or the other groups associated with the industry? > > The short answer is that there is no short answer. > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Want to reach the ColdFusion community with something they want? Let them know on the House of Fusion mailing lists Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:302293 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
