How to Choose a Health Insurance Vendor for Your Business
Asad Haroon asked:
Many businesses provide health insurance for their employees as a benefit for working for the company. Individually purchasing health insurance is expensive, so businesses purchase group policy plans, which lowers the overall cost of the health insurance per individual. There are many types of policies that businesses can select from. For example, some health insurance policies cover preventative care, while others do not. Some policies cover dental care while others do not. Some cover prescription medications, gym membership, alternative medicine treatments, and more, while others do not. Do you need help choosing a health insurance provider? If so, click here.
Health insurance companies and plans vary significantly in what they offer and how much policies cost. So how should you select a vendor? Here are some suggestions:
Determine the type of health and other insurance you will provide. In addition to medical insurance there are also short and long-term disability, dental, vision and prescription coverage.
What are you paying for? Many employers cover a portion of the deductibles for each medical procedure. Many employers also cover a portion of the cost that the employee needs to pay for the policy each month. For example, if the out-of-pocket monthly expense for an employee is $100 for a health care plan, the employer may cover 30%.
What are the group rates? The rates for each health care plan and company will vary based on the vendor and what you actually purchase.
What are the terms of the policy? What is the annual deductible that employees must meet? Does the plan cover preventative care and immunizations? Does the plan allow employees to visit the doctor for check-ups? Will the plan cover x-rays, CAT scans, and MRIs? Does the plan cover hospital-acquired infections? These answers make a great deal of difference to your employees should they become ill.
Check the Better Business Bureau and Google for both your insurance agent and the company they want to insure you with. Make sure you are dealing with reputable firms.
When an employee has a health care policy through work, the employer needs to understand his or her limitations and responsibilities as well. For example, the employer is legally prohibited from inquiring about the employee’s medical condition – before hiring the employee, during the term of employment, and after the employee has left the business. They cannot interact with the medical providers caring for their employee at all.
Because of the variety of coverage that companies offer, the rates and your individual decisions as an employer, choosing a health care insurance provider for your employees can be time-consuming. If you want health insurance vendors to compete for your business, click here. For additional information, you can visit our health insurance wiki.
Many businesses provide health insurance for their employees as a benefit for working for the company. Individually purchasing health insurance is expensive, so businesses purchase group policy plans, which lowers the overall cost of the health insurance per individual. There are many types of policies that businesses can select from. For example, some health insurance policies cover preventative care, while others do not. Some policies cover dental care while others do not. Some cover prescription medications, gym membership, alternative medicine treatments, and more, while others do not. Do you need help choosing a health insurance provider? If so, click here.
Health insurance companies and plans vary significantly in what they offer and how much policies cost. So how should you select a vendor? Here are some suggestions:
Determine the type of health and other insurance you will provide. In addition to medical insurance there are also short and long-term disability, dental, vision and prescription coverage.
What are you paying for? Many employers cover a portion of the deductibles for each medical procedure. Many employers also cover a portion of the cost that the employee needs to pay for the policy each month. For example, if the out-of-pocket monthly expense for an employee is $100 for a health care plan, the employer may cover 30%.
What are the group rates? The rates for each health care plan and company will vary based on the vendor and what you actually purchase.
What are the terms of the policy? What is the annual deductible that employees must meet? Does the plan cover preventative care and immunizations? Does the plan allow employees to visit the doctor for check-ups? Will the plan cover x-rays, CAT scans, and MRIs? Does the plan cover hospital-acquired infections? These answers make a great deal of difference to your employees should they become ill.
Check the Better Business Bureau and Google for both your insurance agent and the company they want to insure you with. Make sure you are dealing with reputable firms.
When an employee has a health care policy through work, the employer needs to understand his or her limitations and responsibilities as well. For example, the employer is legally prohibited from inquiring about the employee’s medical condition – before hiring the employee, during the term of employment, and after the employee has left the business. They cannot interact with the medical providers caring for their employee at all.
Because of the variety of coverage that companies offer, the rates and your individual decisions as an employer, choosing a health care insurance provider for your employees can be time-consuming. If you want health insurance vendors to compete for your business, click here. For additional information, you can visit our health insurance wiki.
Solving the Health Care Dilemma
Harris R. Sherline asked:
How many people do you know who think their Congressperson has the answers to providing health care in America? Or, their Senator? George W. Bush? Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton? Or, for that matter, any politician? Do they really have the answers?
If they can’t do it, then how about the politicians in Canada, or Great Britain? Have they solved the problem in their societies? Some people believe they have. However, in England, where the private practice of medicine was outlawed when socialized medicine was first established there, they were eventually forced to reverse their policy and permit the public to go outside the government’s system to obtain health care from private physicians.
In Canada today, the story is much the same. Many Canadians come to the U.S. for emergent needs, such as bypass surgery, because the waiting time in Canada is interminable, often many months before their citizens can get life-saving treatment when they need it.
State-Run Health Care
All state-run health care systems have one thing in common: rationing. Not necessarily involving the use of ration cards, but rationing nonetheless. Rationing of resources. The cause is a devilishly simple principle that’s present in all nationalized health care programs. That is, it’s free, or so low cost that it’s almost free. Basic economics clearly demonstrates that whenever something is free, the demand quickly becomes unlimited. The lower the price, the greater the demand. Give something away and you can “sell” everything you have and more.
However, the flip side of unlimited demand is a shortage of supply. And, not having enough doctors, nurses, or expensive equipment, such as CAT Scans and MRIs, eventually leads to rationing. Without enough health care to go around, rationing becomes a necessity. That has been the failing with nationalized health care in England, Canada, Germany, Japan, the former USSR, everywhere it has been tried.
So, if there are no politicians who really know what should be done to solve our health care problems why do we keep expecting them to come up with the answers?
Just exactly what are the problems? Too many uninsured? Too high cost? Poor quality? Lack of availability? All of the above? Do you know or think you know?
What have been the government’s (read politicians’) solutions to date?
Health Care Policy
National health care (socialized medicine) in one form or another is the primary health care policy that is gradually being adopted in America. And it is slowly but surely lowering the quality of the health care we are getting. Talk to any doctor you trust and see if they don’t agree. They will tell you that they are working much longer hours for far less money, that many physicians are retiring early or converting to “concierge” practices because they are fed up with the government and insurance company bureaucrats telling them how to practice medicine. Consequently, there is a growing shortage of doctors and nurses.
But, you may say, we don’t have socialized medicine in America! Perhaps not yet, but we’ve been moving in that direction for some time, and we seem to be going further down that path as the years progress. It’s a slippery slope. For example, consider Medicare.
But, Medicare is not socialized medicine, you may insist.
Unfortunately, it is, or is headed that way. Why? For one thing, it’s a system that’s based on price controls.
Price Controls
Price controls have never worked, ever, in any society at any time in history. They were tried as early as 301 A.D. by a Roman emperor, Diocletian (243-316 A.D.) who implemented price controls under penalty of death. But, even that didn’t work, and it hasn’t worked since. What price controls do is cause shortages, increased costs and disrupted markets.
Look at what has happened to the Medicare program since 1984, the year the government changed its method of paying for hospital services from a “cost plus” to a system called DRGs (Diagnostic Related Groupings). DRGs are a method of classifying illnesses and assigning a comparative value and a specific authorized payment to each. At that point, many hospitals began to lose money because the government started dictating the prices that are paid for inpatient care.
As much as 70% of many hospitals’ patients are seniors, whose bills are paid by Medicare. The Federal Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) determines, in its sole discretion, the prices that can be charged for seniors’ inpatient hospital care, and then pays only 80% of those amounts. The differences between a hospital’s standard fees for service and the amounts that Medicare pays must be written off. They cannot be collected from the patient. That’s price control.
Furthermore, because Medicare payments are determined solely by the government, annual cost of living increases are limited, generally to between 1-1/2% and 2-1/2%, in spite of the fact that hospital costs have been rising for years at an annual rate of anywhere from 6% to 14%.
Another little known fact about Medicare is that seniors are prevented from seeking care outside the Medicare system, even if they are willing to pay the bill themselves. Any doctor who accepts payment directly from a senior who is covered by Medicare is automatically disqualified from providing care to all Medicare patients for a period of two years. This is especially important in situations where a patient wants a second opinion and would like to see another doctor. That type of regulation is certainly an element of socialized medicine.
Many Hospitals Lose Money
Between health insurance contracts (HMOs) and Medicare limits on their charges, hospitals generally collect only about 50% of their total billings. The rest is written off. The result of all this is predictable: many of them are losing money. About one-third of all hospitals in California are currently operating at a loss. With a national health care plan, at some point, many hospitals would either be closed or services curtailed. That’s been the pattern in every country that has nationalized its health care. Nonetheless, that seems to be where we are headed, in spite of compelling evidence that it doesn’t work.
Like the proverbial frog being cooked in a pot of cold water, Americans are gradually becoming aware that the quality of their health care is declining, even as costs continue to rise. It just hasn’t sunk in yet. When it does, they will undoubtedly be led into believing the government has the answers and demand more government control, regulation and oversight. And, our politicians will be only too willing to oblige.
Nationalized Health Care
Nationalized health care in America is gradually overtaking the free market, and we are all being slowly cooked in the pot of government intervention. So, don’t be surprised at the type of health care program we get as time progresses. Whatever your own conclusions, remember one thing: that our politicians won’t have to rely on whatever health care plan they establish for everyone else. As usual, they will have their own, superior plan. And, it will not be a part of the nationalized health care system that the rest of us will be required to use. If you doubt that assertion, just look at the health care plan that our Federal legislators and government employees have now.
In the interest of full disclosure, I’m one of those seniors who has Medicare health insurance coverage and I ran a hospital for about seven years.
© 2008 Harris R. Sherline, All Rights Reserved
How many people do you know who think their Congressperson has the answers to providing health care in America? Or, their Senator? George W. Bush? Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton? Or, for that matter, any politician? Do they really have the answers?
If they can’t do it, then how about the politicians in Canada, or Great Britain? Have they solved the problem in their societies? Some people believe they have. However, in England, where the private practice of medicine was outlawed when socialized medicine was first established there, they were eventually forced to reverse their policy and permit the public to go outside the government’s system to obtain health care from private physicians.
In Canada today, the story is much the same. Many Canadians come to the U.S. for emergent needs, such as bypass surgery, because the waiting time in Canada is interminable, often many months before their citizens can get life-saving treatment when they need it.
State-Run Health Care
All state-run health care systems have one thing in common: rationing. Not necessarily involving the use of ration cards, but rationing nonetheless. Rationing of resources. The cause is a devilishly simple principle that’s present in all nationalized health care programs. That is, it’s free, or so low cost that it’s almost free. Basic economics clearly demonstrates that whenever something is free, the demand quickly becomes unlimited. The lower the price, the greater the demand. Give something away and you can “sell” everything you have and more.
However, the flip side of unlimited demand is a shortage of supply. And, not having enough doctors, nurses, or expensive equipment, such as CAT Scans and MRIs, eventually leads to rationing. Without enough health care to go around, rationing becomes a necessity. That has been the failing with nationalized health care in England, Canada, Germany, Japan, the former USSR, everywhere it has been tried.
So, if there are no politicians who really know what should be done to solve our health care problems why do we keep expecting them to come up with the answers?
Just exactly what are the problems? Too many uninsured? Too high cost? Poor quality? Lack of availability? All of the above? Do you know or think you know?
What have been the government’s (read politicians’) solutions to date?
Health Care Policy
National health care (socialized medicine) in one form or another is the primary health care policy that is gradually being adopted in America. And it is slowly but surely lowering the quality of the health care we are getting. Talk to any doctor you trust and see if they don’t agree. They will tell you that they are working much longer hours for far less money, that many physicians are retiring early or converting to “concierge” practices because they are fed up with the government and insurance company bureaucrats telling them how to practice medicine. Consequently, there is a growing shortage of doctors and nurses.
But, you may say, we don’t have socialized medicine in America! Perhaps not yet, but we’ve been moving in that direction for some time, and we seem to be going further down that path as the years progress. It’s a slippery slope. For example, consider Medicare.
But, Medicare is not socialized medicine, you may insist.
Unfortunately, it is, or is headed that way. Why? For one thing, it’s a system that’s based on price controls.
Price Controls
Price controls have never worked, ever, in any society at any time in history. They were tried as early as 301 A.D. by a Roman emperor, Diocletian (243-316 A.D.) who implemented price controls under penalty of death. But, even that didn’t work, and it hasn’t worked since. What price controls do is cause shortages, increased costs and disrupted markets.
Look at what has happened to the Medicare program since 1984, the year the government changed its method of paying for hospital services from a “cost plus” to a system called DRGs (Diagnostic Related Groupings). DRGs are a method of classifying illnesses and assigning a comparative value and a specific authorized payment to each. At that point, many hospitals began to lose money because the government started dictating the prices that are paid for inpatient care.
As much as 70% of many hospitals’ patients are seniors, whose bills are paid by Medicare. The Federal Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) determines, in its sole discretion, the prices that can be charged for seniors’ inpatient hospital care, and then pays only 80% of those amounts. The differences between a hospital’s standard fees for service and the amounts that Medicare pays must be written off. They cannot be collected from the patient. That’s price control.
Furthermore, because Medicare payments are determined solely by the government, annual cost of living increases are limited, generally to between 1-1/2% and 2-1/2%, in spite of the fact that hospital costs have been rising for years at an annual rate of anywhere from 6% to 14%.
Another little known fact about Medicare is that seniors are prevented from seeking care outside the Medicare system, even if they are willing to pay the bill themselves. Any doctor who accepts payment directly from a senior who is covered by Medicare is automatically disqualified from providing care to all Medicare patients for a period of two years. This is especially important in situations where a patient wants a second opinion and would like to see another doctor. That type of regulation is certainly an element of socialized medicine.
Many Hospitals Lose Money
Between health insurance contracts (HMOs) and Medicare limits on their charges, hospitals generally collect only about 50% of their total billings. The rest is written off. The result of all this is predictable: many of them are losing money. About one-third of all hospitals in California are currently operating at a loss. With a national health care plan, at some point, many hospitals would either be closed or services curtailed. That’s been the pattern in every country that has nationalized its health care. Nonetheless, that seems to be where we are headed, in spite of compelling evidence that it doesn’t work.
Like the proverbial frog being cooked in a pot of cold water, Americans are gradually becoming aware that the quality of their health care is declining, even as costs continue to rise. It just hasn’t sunk in yet. When it does, they will undoubtedly be led into believing the government has the answers and demand more government control, regulation and oversight. And, our politicians will be only too willing to oblige.
Nationalized Health Care
Nationalized health care in America is gradually overtaking the free market, and we are all being slowly cooked in the pot of government intervention. So, don’t be surprised at the type of health care program we get as time progresses. Whatever your own conclusions, remember one thing: that our politicians won’t have to rely on whatever health care plan they establish for everyone else. As usual, they will have their own, superior plan. And, it will not be a part of the nationalized health care system that the rest of us will be required to use. If you doubt that assertion, just look at the health care plan that our Federal legislators and government employees have now.
In the interest of full disclosure, I’m one of those seniors who has Medicare health insurance coverage and I ran a hospital for about seven years.
© 2008 Harris R. Sherline, All Rights Reserved
