Posted on April 26, 2008 | Category: Uncategorized
By Jan Greene
Greetings. Have you noticed that your health coverage has gotten more
difficult to deal with in the past few years? I’ve been asking around, and here
are the kinds of problems people tell me about:
–An employer’s health plan changes and suddenly a family is responsible for
the first $750 of spending before insurance kicks in. They don’t realize until
the first bills come in.
–A self-employed writer (ahem) has a fairly routine biopsy and ends up owing
more than $3,000 for it because of the high deductible plan she’s had to buy
(which still costs $330 a month in premiums).
–Another self-employed person tries to switch from her high-deductible plan to
one that’s more affordable, and her insurer turns her down because she once
sought care for insomnia.
–A woman on Medicare is turned down by her supplemental insurer for a cancer
treatment because the claim wasn’t filed within 90 days, but Medicare hadn’t
told her it wouldn’t cover the treatment until after 90 days.
Everybody has a story. It’s not that insurance companies are filled
with evil people. It’s just that the healthcare system has quietly shifted into
a new mode, and few people have noticed. We’re on our own. It used to be
your family doctor or employer or health plan would take care of you. Not
anymore.
Americans are paying more out of pocket for health services and insurance
than ever before. Many of them are suddenly finding they could have saved money
if they’d known how their plan had changed — they could have negotiated
something up front or picked a better health plan.
There are ways to understand and beat the new system. This blog will talk
about some of those and point you toward some new services meant to help.
» Filed Under Uncategorized