Commonwealth Business Health

HHS Secretary Sebelius Announces New Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan

enterprisectr — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 14:53:52 +0000

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced today the establishment of a new Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) that will offer coverage to uninsured Americans who have been unable to obtain health coverage because of a pre-existing health condition.

The Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, which will be administered either by a state or by the Department of Health and Human Services, will provide a new health coverage option for Americans who have been uninsured for at least six months, have been unable to get health coverage because of a health condition, and are a U.S. citizen or are residing in the United States legally.

Read the full release.

Senate President Murray Proposes Alternative Insurance Reform

enterprisectr — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:18:49 +0000

Senate President Therese Murray is expected to propose alternative health insurance legislation to address the issue of escalating insurance costs for small businesses. This legislation focuses on streamlining administration costs of insurers under the “efficiency guarantee”. 90 percent of premiums will need to go toward medical services, rather than administrative costs.
“While some cost-drivers are beyond direct control of health insurance companies, carriers must be held to a higher standard and a more transparent regulatory structure if we want to provide premium relief to small businesses and eliminate cost-shifting among different-sized businesses,” said Murray.

Read the full release.

Court Decision Expected Today on Ruling to Block Double Digit Health Insurance Increases

enterprisectr — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 16:04:07 +0000

In Massachusetts we require everyone to have health care coverage, and yet this week there are a whole group of consumers who can’t buy it. Their health care is being held hostage by insurance companies that aren’t selling. -Amy Whitcomb Slemmer, Executive Director, Health Care for All

The battle over health care continues as six major insurers went to court last Thursday to dispute the Massachusetts Division of Insurance decision to reject double digit increases in health insurance premiums. A decision by Suffolk Superior court is expected today which could potentially have an enormous impact on small business. Click here to read more…

Good news for Small Businesses- Mass rejects insurers proposed increases

enterprisectr — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 20:10:27 +0000

See the full article by clicking here

http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2010/04/mass_rejects_re.html

60% of people who are unenrolled—ie people with no health insurance—are small business owners and/or their families and/or employees.

enterprisectr — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 18:11:02 +0000

The most surprising—even mind blowing—statistic that I’ve seen in the whole national health care debate is this:

60% of people who are unenrolled—ie people with no health insurance—are small business owners and/or their families and/or employees. This fact alone is a wakeup call for how small businesses are treated. Without an ability in most states to come together as a group to negotiate lower health insurance rates it’s clear that small businesses are working at a disadvantage. The new national law requires that in 2014 there will be health care “exchanges” where individuals and small businesses can purchase insurance, hopefully at much lower prices. It’s up to all of us to keep talking about this so that both Massachusetts and DC understand what a problem this poses to small businesses and how the high costs of health insurance impede job creation. And in the meantime let’s see if Massachusetts can change its laws and make small businesses a group right away. Christine

Christine B. Sullivan

Executive Director Enterprise Center at Salem State College

The New Health Care Law- What’s the impact on small business?

enterprisectr — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 19:16:45 +0000

60% of America’s uninsured are small business owners, their families and their employees. As we have heard from many of the small businesses that come to the Enterprise Center, the issue of Health Insurance has reached a crisis level. Small businesses have seen double digit insurance increases for several years. In fact, insurance premiums for small businesses have increased by 129% since 2000.

We are well aware that the new health care law is politically charged but the bill has many items that you may find of great interest to you and your business, including small business tax credits and the ability to buy into group insurance (2014). We hope that you will take a moment to look through the new Health Care Law (Click here to view a recap of the new Health Care Law) and weigh in on what you think about it.

Our politicians just do not seem to “get it.”

enterprisectr — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 17:33:28 +0000

If any one has not already watched it, I would recommend the PBS Frontline program “Sick Around the World” (Google the title to find the link).

The program reviews how a number of capitalist democracies provide universal healthcare for their citizens at lower cost per person and with better health statistics that we achieve here in the US. The way each country funds and provides its healthcare is different. The one thing they all have in common is that insurers, healthcare providers, and pharmaceutcal companies are all regulated and the cost of their products or services are controlled.

I have been getting my healthcare coverage through my local chamber of commerce (from a variety of Mass-based insurance companies; Tufts, Neighborhood Health, and Fallon). Every year, my premiums have increased by double digit percentages without explanation or justification.

And, from what I read here and elsewhere, I am not alone in that experience. Nowhere else in the economy does one see relentless increases on that scale. And, in the long run, this is unsustainable. Very few individuals or businesses have incomes or revenues increasing 15%, 20%, 39% per year.

And our politicians just do not seem to “get it.” The Republicans are simply pursuing a mindless vendetta against Obama and are contributing nothing to solving this healthcare problem that affects all Americans regardless of their political leanings.

And the Democrats have shown themselves to be both politically inept, and largely subservient to the healthcare special interests. The idea, in the recent Democratic bill, that an American citizen would be penalized $8,000 per year for failing to purchase insurance from a private insurer when there would seem to be no controls proposed on the coverage and cost that the private insurer provides is basically a sick joke that only a lobbyist or a Congressman would fine funny.

The irony, of course, is that we will, inevitably, have cost controls because the increase in healthcare costs is simply unsustainable. Unless we do something meaningful to control systemic healthcare costs (i.e. at all levels, insurers, hospitals, drug companies) then sometime in the next 5 or 10 years, no one who isn’t a Wall Street banker will be able to afford coverage at all… The average middle class salary is not increasing by 25% or more per year. At what happens then… We all get penalized $8,000 and have no coverage at all?

Doug Denholm
Chemical Engineer
Salem, MA

Graphx: “53% increase this year after a 38% increase last year”

enterprisectr — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:15:07 +0000

We are a small software company celebrating our 25th year in Massachusetts. In the past we have attracted and retained qualified employees with benefits as medical insurance. In the current economy we are struggling to survive.
Here are the straightforward facts at our company:

1. We employ healthy non-smokers who are over the age of 55.
2. BCBS has informed us that our insurance rates are going up 53% this year. FIFTY THREE PERCENT.
3. This year’s increase follows a 38% increase last year and a 29% increase two years ago.
4. Every year for the last three years we have ratcheted down our company’s health insurance plan… to plans with higher co-pays, higher deductibles and less medical coverages.
5. Every year for the last three years I spend at between 1-2 man-weeks of my time researching all medical health plans options and switching health providers. In the last three years we have gone from BCBS to Tufts to BCBS. This year we will likely switch to Fallon. This considerable time investment is completely unproductive and unrelated to moving our business forward, which puts me at a disadvantage to my competitors outside Massachusetts.
6. NO employee has received any increase in salary or wages in five plus
years.
My View
1. BCBS Bill Van Fassen’s $16 Million dollar non-retirement retirement payout in 2006 should have been the definitive wake up call to the State Insurance Commissioner. Their spending IS out of control. The burden of this gross spending excess is directly on the backs of those who can least afford to pay, small business employees and owners.
2. In today’s difficult economy BCBS’s actions are both irresponsible and immoral. A 53% rate increase in 2010 should not be a rate increase acceptable to the State Insurance Commissioner. If BCBS truly cannot provide a lower rate than its license to operate in the Commonwealth should be suspended until they can return with a defensible rate.
3. The small business community, both owners and employees, wants and needs the Patrick administration to demonstrate real leadership and FORCEFULLY block these rate increases immediately, including threat of license suspensions or the option of continuation of prior year rates.
4. The Insurance Commissioner MUST communicate that annual rate increases are NOT a given. The insurance companies should be forced to operate more like small businesses, and every other business is the current depressed economic climate. Eliminate unnecessary costs, like TV advertising, and learn to do more with less… STOP passing on costs to those least able to fight large bureaucratic companies.
5. In Massachusetts we like to consider ourselves as progressive and forward thinking. Wouldn’t we then agree that the quality of health care in Massachusetts should NOT be a function of the company they work for. Health insurance rates for large company employees versus small company employees should not vary significantly.
6. This is much more than a political issue. This is a life and death issue.
The Commissioner of Insurance cannot error by strongly advocating, AND DELIVERING equitable health insurance options of Massachusetts residents.

Regards,

Joe

Joseph T. Kowalik
President & CEO, Graphx Inc.
Woburn, MA

Flavrz Drink Mix: “Why not create one large state-wide group for all small businesses?”

enterprisectr — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:42:38 +0000

The cost of health insurance is prohibitive for our company. I have been
hiring part time people but as our company grows, we are facing the problem of
having to provide benefits. We are in a low margin business and we are
struggling to hit volume levels at which we can afford this kind of overhead.
It is simply unaffordable. It isn’t fair that, as small business owners, we
have to pay so much more for health insurance for our employees and for our
own families, than larger companies. If the government wants to grow
employment, this problem needs to be addressed. Don’t forget that many of
today’s small businesses are tomorrow’s large businesses.

Why not create one large state-wide group for all small businesses? Then we
would be one of the largest groups in the State.

Karen Barth
President and CEO
Flavrz Drink Mix
www.flavrzdrinkmix.com

New England Cranberry Company: “How can anyone pay what looks to be 40-50% (of salary) for health insurance?

enterprisectr — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:39:36 +0000

Our family policies for 2009 are approximately $13,000 per year each. Our
increase for 2010 is about 24% to $16,000. Only two years ago it was $9400,
and we have moved to less comprehensive plans. If you follow these increases
out only another two years, you are in the low to mid $20K’s per family. This
basically becomes a 40-75% tax on each employee, which is obviously a dis-
incentive to hire anyone.

If the median household income in the US is just over $50K, how can anyone
expect to pay what looks to be 40-50% of that for health insurance? I don’t
believe that costs to insurers are rising at this rate and where is the
competition? Everyone moves their rates in lock step.

Ted Stux
New England Cranberry Co.
Lynn, MA