Health Care Costs Spread to Workers

In January 2007 my employer changed health care coverage for all of its employees at the facility where I work. The changes didn’t seem to be very vital on paper before they occurred but have affected the level and quality of healthcare that my family can now afford.

First, what we once had. Our coverage prior to January 2007 was exceptional and almost unheard of among businesses in our area. We had no deductibles, no monthly premium cost sharing, and ten dollar co-pay that seemed insignificant enough that it never affected our decisions as a family to go to the doctor or chiropractor.

I knew that we had it capable. What I didn’t know was that the diminutive changes that the company was about to beget would have such a enormous impact on the level of care that my family and I could afford. The changes seemed rather insignificant.

Our $0 premium went to a $128.00 per month premium.

$10 co-pay per visit to 90/10 and this with our family owing the 10% of the cost of the visit. On paper this meant that most of our use which is Chiropractor visits would cost us less per visit $3.50 per visit instead of ten.

We went from having a $0 deductible for all coverage for the year on all medical, dental, and prescriptions to having a $1000 family deductible for 2007 on medical, $0 on dental and $0 on $100 on prescriptions. When our deductibles had been met on all categories except for prescriptions we would have to pay for the visit up front and submit for reimbursement unlike before with being billed for our co-pay.

These little changes that once seemed so insignificant changed once I applied some arithmetic to the problem. What once was free until we traditional it and then cost us $10 per visit now costs us $2536 per year before we gain the privilege of really getting any benefits from it.

Most folks use there insurance for doctor’s visits and chiropractor visits. So far this year my insurance hasn’t helped with any of those bills. For us, this has meant fewer trips when we are sick or having problems with pack pain. It is now August and we have not reached our $1000 family deductible, we have paid over $1024 in premiums and covered $945 in medical expenses solely out of our own pockets. With $55 more to go before our health coverage starts to cover any costs. Last year we were about $300 in the hole at this time of year for our medical expenses. We would now have to have seen the doctor 191 times to have had this much expense.

These “little” changes have really hurt us and have caused us to not derive the medical help that we grew accustomed to on the old coverage. The pain of paying medical expenses has gone from those who have the resources to handle it best to those how have the least and that would be me with 5 kids. I have learned that these changes that the company made are not fair geared to spread some costs to you but most of the cost, because with only 4 months left of this year I have footed the bill and paid for other coverage as well considering that our family of 7 has not incurred any “medical” expenses that our insurance has obligation to cover.

In short, I feel the changes that were made to our policy were made to discourage us from using it. Most, everyone working for that paycheck has the same issues of making it until that next check and unexpected medical expenses sometimes just can’t be covered. To me it is a shame that the design of more company friendly insurance plans have left those who need that coverage most only with the illusion of obedient coverage. If there was a device to opt out of the normal coverage and just pay for an inexpensive major medical policy, I would but that is not part of the program that my company selected. My $1536 of premium that I and many others pay per year is mandatory and probably pays for the company’s entire medical concept and expenses.

When you hear about those “little” changes that need to be made to your health insurance to help your company compete in a “global marketplace” it simply means that you better hold on to your wallet because you are in for some significant and expensive changes for you and your families medical treatments.

I do have a plan to deal with this and make sure that our family gets the medical care that we really need during 2008. I will cover that in a later article.