The Dreaded Email

After months of watching as the health-care industry has undergone the changes wrought by government mandates, the email came. It was from the human resources director at the company I work for – a small company, but one with over 50 employees.

It said that our current carrier was looking at a “very large increase” in our insurance costs, and that we needed to look at other options.

It wouldn’t be the first increase over the years, as insurance costs have gone up pretty regularly, which makes “very large increase” seem a little worrisome. But, there’s little we can do, so I hope they find a company willing to insure our employees for a large increase, without the “very” in front of it.

There have been many stories in the news about cancer patients who are unable to receive their treatments, or otherwise ailing folks who can’t find a participating doctor to go with their new plan.

The press is good at finding people to represent what they consider to be a failing, but in this case it seems that there are too many incidences to discount.

Assuming we do still have insurance that doesn’t bankrupt us in the year to come, I’ll count us among the fortunate. It will be interesting that in our new policy we’ll be paying for maternity care, though neither of us is likely to have a baby anytime soon. We’ll also be paying for optical care for our children, both of whom are off and on their own. We’ll be paying for lots of coverage we don’t need, because that’s the law of the land.

In fairness, many people who haven’t had health insurance before now do have it. Unfortunately, nearly as many people who had insurance before do not any longer have it, or have a policy which is either grossly more expensive, or has no physicians willing to take patients with those plans.

It’s not unusual for there to be “collateral damage” when making major changes in society, and prudent, constructive people can work together to throw out what isn’t working, tweak what could work, and add elements that would make the whole thing run better. But, sometimes people dig in their heels and don’t give an inch.

I hope, for my little family, that the increases we incur this coming year won’t be too big, but I’m afraid that’s a wish with little chance of coming true. I hope your situation with medical insurance is working for you, and if not, I’ll look forward with you to improvements in the years to come.