Health Insurance Info
Five Ways to Cut your Health Insurance Costs
Nearly one-third of all health-insurance premiums increased to 30 percent or more. At that rate, the average cost of health insurance per employee will exceed $3,000. Seventy-three percent of senior executives believe health-care costs will continue to increase 20 percent or more each year for the next three years. The message here is clear: If you haven’t already gotten serious about cutting your company’s health-insurance costs, now is the time. It can be done. The first thing you should do is learn how the system works–or doesn’t work. Most small employers spend fewer than four hours a year thinking about their company health plans. Learn what your options are. Your insurance agent can help you shop for cheaper plans. But don’t stop there. Compare plan benefits, insurance-company records, and service guarantees.
Consider Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans and HMOs (health-maintenance organizations), even if your agent doesn’t handle them. The Blues in some areas, offer clear advantages to small companies. Experts regard HMOs as the best buys in health care. Find out if your company is eligible for new, low-cost health insurance plans now available in five states. In addition, foundation-funded pilot projects in several parts of the country are demonstrating that it is possible to cut health-coverage costs 30 to 40 percent. In short, health insurance isn’t as simple as it used to be. And the pace of change is accelerating, offering new hope for a truce in the business battle with exploding health-care costs. The next couple of years present as much potential for change as at any time in the past 20 years. You can be part of that change by putting at least some of the following 5 ideas to work for your company.
1) Increase Cost Sharing By Employees
This recommendation is at the top of every consultant’s list. Small companies tend to pay far more of their workers’ total health-care bill than large companies do. Yet research shows that insulating employees from the costs of care encourages unnecessary use of health services. Fifty-two percent of the companies responding to the Nation’s Business health survey said they pay 100 percent of their employees’ health-insurance premiums. But 45 percent said they intended to implement or increase employee contributions to these premiums. An equal number said they plan to increase employee deductibles. Insurance companies first attached $100 deductibles to major-medical plans in the early 1950s. But 40 percent of employers still set deductibles at $100 or less. Raising a $100 deductible to $250 would cut premium costs for single coverage by about 11 percent. A $500 deductible would cut costs by about one-fourth. A $1,000 deductible would save about one-third.
2) Allow Employees To Pay For Health Premiums With Tax-Free Dollars
Set up a so-called flexible spending account, which allows your employees to pay their share of health-insurance premiums and un-reimbursed health-care expenses with pretax dollars. A flexible spending account could save employees 20 cents to 35 cents on the dollar, because state and federal income taxes and Social Security taxes are not imposed.
Moreover, the company saves by reducing the employee’s base salary on which it pays Social Security and other taxes. Hire an outside payroll accounting firm to handle the paperwork. You can pay the service fee and still come out with a net savings. The monthly administration fee would run between $2 and $5 per employee.
3) Transfer High-Risk Employees To The State’s High-Risk Pool
Insurance premiums soar whenever someone in a small-group plan becomes very ill–with cancer or heart disease, for example. As an employer, you should explore the possibility of moving employees with serious health problems into a state high-risk pool and then negotiating a lower premium for the healthy members of your group.
4) Switches To An Open-Enrollment Blue Cross And Blue Shield Plan
Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans operate as de facto high-risk pools in a number of states by providing “open enrollment” periods during which any group can buy insurance. Among the 74 Blue Cross and Blue Shield organizations nationwide, 21 offer open enrollment. All the Blues once used community rating to set premium levels. But that began to change in the 1960s when commercial insurers started to lure away firms with low risks by offering them cheaper health insurance.
5) Replace Your Traditional Health Plan With An HMO
Unlike traditional health insurance, HMOs cover all medical needs, including routine preventive care, for a flat monthly fee that typically is less expensive than traditional health insurance. Moreover, two types of HMOs, the staff and the group models, have proven to be more effective at controlling costs than any other form of health-care delivery. Staff models employ physicians directly and put them on salary.
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Here this nice Video about health insurance
Ron Paul supporter and Wallingford Student High School student asks Senator Obama about his universal health care plan. Barack Obama’s Road To Change Tour of Pennsylvania at Wallingford High School in Wallingford, PA. Barack Obama spoke for about 20 minutes and then answered 45 minutes worth of questions from students and community members. This video was filmed on April 2, 2008. Part 7 Q&A 3 Filmed by: Chris Barrett … Barack Obama Wallingford High School Road To Change PA …
Find your answer for your own question related to health insurance
Tags: barack, change, high, obama, PA, Road, school, To, Wallingford
That’s the problem, the insured won’t know what they’re coverage is like until they really need it, then it’s lose everything.
The majority of Americans and the majority of doctors in America want a single payer / Medicare for All system.
Support HR676. Contact your representative today
The insurance industry has been relentless in its inaccurate portrayal of the Canadian single payer system. It is likely that this is because they know it represents a compelling and intelligent alternative to the costly non system that people are forced to experience today in the USA. The truth is, an affordable and workable system must have universal coverage, portability (it’s not tied to employment), affordability, and accessibility. Canadians support their system overwhelmingly.
Most people are HAPPY with their current insurance??? What planet does this guy live on? Everyone I know HATES their insurance if they even HAVE it. Most people I know suffer needlessly b/c they can’t afford decent care and their crappy insurance actually DENIES them from getting decent care.
Funny. Notice the MaCcain fellow cited a poll asking people “are you ok with your present insurance?”..a very different question, after all, we’re all afraid of losing insurance and having something worse. But survey Americans about a public nonprofit insurance with free choice of Dr and not a “Small minority” but 60 to 70% have said yes, in polls for decades, as the talking heads surely know, but too embarrassing to ask if 2/3 want it, why don’t we have it? The 1993 plan was not single payer..
uhh wow this video has 2 be one of the Silliest and sexiest vids online. just like me!
The argument for single payer health care is straightforward. When everybody is in, you don’t have to spend a lot of time and money deciding who to keep out. You also don’t have to worry about what to do with the people you’ve kept out when they get sick anyway. (Uninsured sick people cost insurers nothing, but since they often end up seeking expensive emergency-room treatment, they cost taxpayers a lot!)
How typical. The Democrat gives no answer and the Repulican gives a stupid answer.
I just wear Alex Chiu’s immortality rings and H have no health problems what so ever. No health insurance needed.
LeGioNoFZioN —- YOU still live on YOUR parents back …
Manshelle — NO problem ,, ASK any AMERICAN on the street are they satisfied with their HEALTH CARE ,… SEE how many will say YES ,…
We don’t have single payer because we don’t want it!
Where do you think all the health innovations come from? Drug companies come up with new cures because they can make profits from them.
Think about incentives.
The rest of the world does not do as well with the health challenges we have. True prevention should be given a higher priority. But gutting initiative will not help, we will only get LONG WAITS and WORSE service. Study some history!
Thanks.
I’m surprised America’s ranked as high as 37th in the world in quality healthcare coverage for it’s citizens. I thought America ranked like 170th in the world. Not only the American healthcare system is bankrupting people across the country. It’s also creates financial hardships. When it comes to who should be in charge w/ healthcare, I’d take my chances with “Big Government Bureaucracy” than I would with “Private Corporate Bureaucracy”. We need single payer healthcare.
Health Insurance in the USA is a ****ing scam and is there so the wealthy don’t have to put their money into a pool like every 1st and 2nd world nation on the planet and the Insurance companies are able to profit off the system while providing absolutely NOTHING! (Other then making sure the wealthy get to save money in taxes)
Health innovations do no good to those Americans who are denied access to them! God help us if we care more about the profits of drug companies than the health of Americans. Let’s keep our priorities straight!
Wow, good memory. Thanks for the suggestion – we’ve posted the Giuliani clip as a video response to this one.
The MAJORITY of Americans want Single-Payer like Canada
and Nader is for it! Relying on the health care “industry” as
it is now, assures you’ll be considered a mere NUMBER!
18,000 Americans WILL DIE next year who lack access
to health care with our present health care “industry”!
47 Million Americans HAVE NO health care!
*Listen* to what Nader is saying in the video.
We The People want Single-Payer like Canada!
Vote Nader/Gonzalez 08!
wow this is an easy question. because the health insurance industry won’t allow a single payer system.
Under the new Obama healthcare reform it allows for uninsured Americans to buy insurance from the government. If people start ditching their current health insurance in favor of the government option of insurance, wouldn’t we find ourselves in a single-payer type system?
Is there some way that we can outsmart the insurance companies and the weak minded American masses?
The Democrat guy was misleading too..as noted below, not a small minority but 2/3 of Americans are in favor when given clear choice in polls. The German, Canadian, etc, systems are different, but fact is: they are not that different: they ALL give basic coverage through public nonprofit system, instead of for-profit middleman between you and your Doctor.They exaggerate and lie about the “waiting” in Canada but forget the endless forms, red tape,and waiting for pre-approval,etc,in our sick system
omg… it’s so obvious they’re both bs’ing. how can he possibly say most americans DON’T want single payer with a straight face??
the real reason is probably because the health insurance companies have both parties in their pocket…
Health care is too important to be left in the hands of profit-seeking, bureaucratic middle-men insurance companies who stand between you and your doctor! Single payer does NOT mean “government controlled,” but rather paid from a single source. Instead of 1000 insurance companies negotiating with hospitals for different rates, how about ALL U.S. citizens together negotiating via our government. Health care decisions would still be solely between doctor and patient. Research it for yourself!
Well, I may not get to live long enough to get to see my daughter get the health care I never had.
I can’t get the tests to see if I still have cancer, not any treatment for my RA and Lupus. It is really a shame. I love life, even though it is awfully painful.
He gave a direct answer to the question. He answered why we shouldn’t expect a single-payer healthcare system in the near future. It was the Obama supporter that didn’t even answer the question and just went on a tangent with comparing our healthcare systems with other healthcare systems and conveniently coming to the conclusion that they’re all flawed.
Single-payer now!
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