Eisboch wrote:

"BAR" wrote in message
...

My wife's former company, a federally chartered communications
corporation, was self insured. They did hire a management company to
administer the health "plan".

I worked briefly for a fairly large company here in MA that offered
self-insured plans. They also had a professional health management
company that managed it.

I opted for the Major Medical plan. It was reasonably inexpensive, we
were covered for any serious problems and the deductable was $2000 per
year. Of course, we had to pay for routine doctor visits for
non-catastrophic issues (up to the deductable).

It happened to turn out that Mrs.E. had a bout with breast cancer during
my employ at this company. All the tests, surgery and six months of
chemo were covered, along with almost weekly doctor visits. Our cost:
$2000.

We had a premature baby. Wife cost about $50,000 for the 3 1/2 weeks she
was in the hospital before the baby was born. Once the baby was born at
28 weeks the bill jumped to about $500,000 for two months in the
neo-natal ICU. My wife and I kept our respective single coverage
insurance because it was cheaper then switching to a family plan with
either company. Once the baby was born she was covered by both of our
policies with my wife's as primary, this was the self-insured company.
My insurance kept putting up a fight about the $80,000 they were on the
hook for. They finally shut up and paid when I told them they were lucky
they were not paying the whole $550,000.

On Wed, 04 Feb 2009 21:32:46 -0800, jps wrote:

Not giving a crap about your employees health isn't scummy like
failing to pay taxes or blow jobs.

Won't comment on all that, but it isn't particularly smart. Employees
should be treated as well as livestock, who get the vet if they seem
to need it. The local feed store has " Barn Cat Food " in fifty pound
bags for sixteen bucks. Twice as much as the cracked corn we buy for
the ducks. The cats are supposed to kill the mice, but they are not
expected to starve if they do a good job and mice get scarce. People
should be treated at least as well as barn cats.

Casady

Richard Casady wrote:
On Wed, 04 Feb 2009 21:32:46 -0800, jps wrote:

Not giving a crap about your employees health isn't scummy like
failing to pay taxes or blow jobs.

Won't comment on all that, but it isn't particularly smart. Employees
should be treated as well as livestock, who get the vet if they seem
to need it. The local feed store has " Barn Cat Food " in fifty pound
bags for sixteen bucks. Twice as much as the cracked corn we buy for
the ducks. The cats are supposed to kill the mice, but they are not
expected to starve if they do a good job and mice get scarce. People
should be treated at least as well as barn cats.

Casady


Not in the new America...workers are serfs, they belong to the
corporation and can be disposed of at will.

On Thu, 5 Feb 2009 04:19:44 -0500, "Eisboch"
wrote:

At one point I did
an analysis that indicated it would be less expensive to pay 100% of the
cost for a Major Medical type plan, then reimburse every employee for their
non-emergency, regular doctor visits for them and their kids for check-ups
and colds. Of course, this was not allowed.

Colds? No plan should pay for colds. There is nothing a doctor can do
for one.

Casady

Eisboch wrote:

"D K" wrote in message
...
Frogwatch wrote:
My thoughts on the concept of health insurance:
I really do not think the health probs of my employees is my business
except I want them to get work done. I got no problem if thye get
sick and take weeks off as long as they make it up or work at night or
weekends or any other time. There are timetables for stuff that have
to be met though.
I do offer to pay the premium on an 80/20 policy ($1000 deductible)
from IEEE but only one guy takes me up on that, the rest get their
insurance through spouses.
Frankly, I do not think their health insurance is my business at all
because I cannot get a policy that will meet the needs of every
employee. They are more likely to get a policy that meets their needs
on their own, I also cannot get any better rate for them than they
can get themselves. Consequently, having me buy a standard policy for
them simply adds cost and gives them a policy that is less beneficial
than they could get for less on their own.


I offer two plans through Aetna. The standard plan that most people
have and a "catastrophic" plan that has a $10,000 deductible. Only
two are on Plan B. The rest opt for the standard plan. I pay 50% of
their premium in either case. 100% dental, LTD, and a $15K life
insurance policy. Not bad for a small company.

Premiums will be up nearly 15% this year.

I haven't stayed current with the insurance programs here in MA, but
when I was active in the company we couldn't have split plans. As a
small business, we couldn't have a major medical (catastrophic) plan
*and* a HMO type plan. In fact, we couldn't have more than one health
insurance provider. MA law allowed the insurance companies to require
100% employee participation in a single plan, (Harvard, Tuffs, Blue
Cross, etc.) and the only exception was for employees that were covered
by their spouses plan.

This was (and maybe still is) a significant problem for a small
business, and often made the health insurance provider a major
consideration for a potential new employee, rather than the job
responsibilities, pay and benefits. Their current family doctor may not
have been a participant in the particular program the company was
enrolled in and therefore would have to change doctors in order to
accept employment. This is my biggest beef with having a business also
being a health care administrator.

My other beef is the demise of major medical, catastrophic coverage. I
don't think it is available in MA unless the company is large enough to
self-insure. The popularity of HMOs and PTOs whereby a small co-pay is
all that is required for a doctor office visit is a contributing cause
of the health care crisis we have and the blame for that is squarely on
us, the consumer. We want cheap, and we got expensive. It would be far
better to have insurance for a major illness or injury and have to pay
for a doctor's visit to confirm that little Johnny indeed, has a cold.

I've written about this before. My company paid 75% of each employee's
health insurance premium under a Blue Cross HMO plan. At one point I
did an analysis that indicated it would be less expensive to pay 100% of
the cost for a Major Medical type plan, then reimburse every employee
for their non-emergency, regular doctor visits for them and their kids
for check-ups and colds. Of course, this was not allowed.

Eisboch

We can offer two. Larger companies can offer more than two. The normal
plan is a PPO, the "catastrophic" plan is an HMO. Both are with Aetna.
Plan "B" has less than half of the premium with a $10K deductible.

"Richard Casady" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 5 Feb 2009 04:19:44 -0500, "Eisboch"
wrote:

At one point I did
an analysis that indicated it would be less expensive to pay 100% of the
cost for a Major Medical type plan, then reimburse every employee for
their
non-emergency, regular doctor visits for them and their kids for check-ups
and colds. Of course, this was not allowed.

Colds? No plan should pay for colds. There is nothing a doctor can do
for one.

Casady


That's the problem with HMOs. Parents tend to take the kiddies to the
doctor for every ailment, even if it's something that can easily be treated
at home. If it cost $75 to $100 bucks and was not covered by HMO type
insurance, this practice would stop. Instead, it costs anywhere from $5
bucks to $15 as a co-pay for the doctor to tell you to give the kid a
Tylenal.

It's the reason I favor a return to the Major Medical type insurance
programs.

Eisboch