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As a customer of Blue Cross Blue Shield North Carolina, I recently received notification about my nose-bleed rate increase for next year. Before the company exhaled, they sent a separate (i.e., additional cost to produce and send) letter begging me to oppose competition (e.g., the public option).
Lucky for Adam Smith he didn’t need life saving surgery this month because real Americans can now count on coverage denials so BCBS could pay for something that could have been said in the rate increase letter.
I have stayed away from discussing the health care issue (and only posted video of two intelligent people debating both sides of the issue) because there are too many lies, emotions, and wingnuts. However, I must say it’s a sad time for America and genuine capitalism when hordes of educated people have been brainwashed to fight against their own best interests. I cannot help but recall the prescient forecasts in Aldous Huxley’s essays Brave New World Revisited
I do not know whether a public option is the best idea (and no one knows what form it would take once the lawmakers screw with it). But I will note:
- as I write this I am engaged with the Blue Cross Blue Shield billing department for the third month in a row based on their errors (I have had less problems at the DMV);
- my wife recently had a baby under Maternity coverage and they still tried to deny some of the most basic treatment (AND my wife had a natural birth with no expensive drugs or surgeries);
- I am expected to pay 11% more for insurance next year during a major recession (“free market” economics is clearly not working);
- I have three other options for insurance and they are all either the same price OR cheaper for less coverage (and their reputation for denying claims — the real Death Panels — is worse); and,
- as a small business owner I have no tax breaks or other incentives to be entrepreneurial or take responsibility for my own coverage (when compared to the breaks corporations and their employees receive on multiple levels).
To top it off I am 31, athletic, eat extremely healthy, and hardly ever visit the doctor (e.g., one physical a year). The system is a mess. Let’s stop the uninformed, heavily manipulated childish arguments. Let’s use our brains and fix it. A solution is in everyone’s best interest.
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I received an 11% increase on my Blue Cross bill for 2010 and I’m not happy about it. That basically is 11% inflation on health care, another hidden tax!
For anyone who wants to understand the real nuances of the health care debate, I suggest listening to NPR’s “This American Life” or “Planet Money” podcasts. The shows do a great job breaking down the complex issues – they get beyond the talking points of the major players like BCBS or even the far left who view the solution as so cut and dry.
Thanks, Adam!
I too just received a notice of increase from BCBS of North Carolina. I have “catastrophic insurance” with them, which pays for almost nothing. And I have had no doctor visits other than to get a flu shot. I take no prescription medicines. Yet my rates are sky high and are going up again. I may be forced to drop coverage completely.
In the case of my wife, BCBS of North Carolina quoted her a rate so high that we were stunned… the monthly premium was much higher than a mortgage payment on our house would be. Why? She once had high blood pressure kept under control by prescription medication (she now takes aspirin instead).
We went with a different company, were able to get her a high deductible “catastrophic” policy and are paying thousands for what amounts to NO benefits. This is, or should be, criminal conduct on the part of the insurance companies.
I’ve begun to believe that even the Democrats in Congress are working hand in hand with big pharma and the insurance companies to serve up “the uninsured and under-insured” to the hands of the greedy insurance companies. Plus, its public knowledge that the Obama administration cut a deal with big pharma to get drug company support for “reform”. And the “public option” is becoming a joke as its massaged and watered down by both parties.
Unfortunately, and probably not by accident, there seems to be no avenue to fight back against the flood of money that insurance companies continue to pump into Congress. And there is no way to root out the corruption that is so prevalent in Congress itself. These days, the two party elections give you a choice between bad and worse, making it almost impossible to get the crooks out of office since their replacement is another “bought and paid for crook.”
So sad to think nearly all of our “representatives” are looking out for their own interests instead of doing the job they were elected to do. So sad that our leaders are willing to give billions upon billions to the banksters but are unwilling to allow citizens basic health care coverage… at a fraction of the cost of the bank bailouts.
Jim, thank you for your thoughtful response. I am terribly sorry to hear about your plight. I’ve been hearing a lot of this lately. And it will definitely take a major bite out of future US economic prowess.
I am wondering if people will simply start copying doctors and go “bare back”. Desperate times, desperate measures.
I wish you the best and thanks for sharing your REAL story.
Damien
As of October 1, BCBS of MA raised rates through my employer at 17% for the year. We were told it was too late to shop for another plan and we just have to eat it. In recent years it was around 6% increased annually.
I am a retiree in Alabama. I have bcbs medicare advantage plan. I just received the 2010 rate and has exactly doubled and the co pays have increased. Top that.
Mr. Close you need to tell the whole story. Yes, your Premium Option did double as did mine. However, with a little cost analysis of your situation you should be able to switch from the Premium Option $142/mo. to the Standard Option for $42/mo. or even better, to the Value Option for $0/month. All include an excellent Part D as part of the premium. If you can justify needing the Premium Option due to frequent visits then the Premium Plan is a bargain. I'm no fan of insurance companies but BC/BS of Alabama ranks number 2 on Consumer Reports best managed plans and number 1 for all plans in its market size. They spend 93% of all premiums toward actual patient care with only about 6.5% going toward administrative cost. Over ten years their profit margin has averaged only .6% annualy. Unfortunately, the insurance we grew up with (everything free, no deductibles, etc.) is a relic of the past. As a final note, AARP doesn't even offer coverage in Alabama due to its inablility to compete.
Are you kidding me? Do you work for BCBS of Alabama? The CEO of BCBS/AL makes 17,000,000 plus for a salaray – recalculate your process
The problem with a government-run option is that once it is introduced, the politicians stack the deck against private plans and eventually it becomes a de facto single payer system.
I expect a lot of gnashing of teeth and hand-wringing from you trusting souls when that destiny arrives.
I am willing to take the risk considering that right now I have some profiteer standing in between me and my doctor and they keep raising my rates 18-24% a year. At least in the case of the government we have a system for grievances. BCBS doesn’t give a shit about me … but my local representatives do.
I think many Americans have forgotten how the Founder’s brilliant system works. When enough people get together and threaten their representatives’ jobs, things change. Clearly, with all the complaints filed against private health insurance companies, it hasn’t done a damn thing to stop the insane rate increases and sickening claim denials.
I AM 52 YRS OLD. MY MONTHLY PREMIUMS WITH NC BCBS ARE OVER $800 A MONTH. IT'S OUTRAGEOUS. I'M JUST WORKING TO PAY MY INSURANCE. OUR COUNTRY IS IN RUIN.
Sorry, Zack. As you know, I feel your pain. Contact your Congressional rep. If we all complain, things will change.