Aetna’s Ron Williams on Health Care: What to Expect – BusinessWeek.
Will insurance premiums go up?
The answer is yes, and some of the things that will drive those premiums are significant additional taxes the industry will ultimately have to pay in the first year.The President said that this bill would not have any impact on people who already had coverage, that it was about the uninsured, that there would be no change. Will this legislation change the coverage of people who are already paying for it?
My perception is, yes, things will change. You might not have a plan that includes the exact same doctors. You might have plans that have richer benefits, and therefore you’re going to pay more for benefits you may or may not want. It would have been a better message to say, we’re going to make certain you maintain your eligibility.
Barack lied.
March 29, 2010 at 12:39 pm
This is just absolutely “pissy”…
we’re having a heck of a time paying our insurance premiums now; what will this bring?
Lies, lies and more lies.
While the elite “eat caviar and drink champagne”, no doubt.
I’m beginning to wonder, that in the event I do get some kind of awful illness, I want to even be in a hospital with this gang of thugs involved (I’m a priest and religious, so I’d be the first one on which they would “pull the plug”)…God help us!
March 29, 2010 at 12:50 pm
The insurance companies were never meant to take a hit. It was all about us being front and center. I don’t believe anything that POTUS says.
March 29, 2010 at 12:54 pm
Well, our insurance policy payment already went up over 30% a few months ago. The increase was passed directly to us from my husband’s company. They said any further increases in the policy payments would continue to be passed on to the employee.
We have a good policy now, but I’m afraid that if the costs continue to rise, the company will dump the policy we have and hand us a crappy one…something like Cigna, which was the worst health insurance we ever had. I was so glad when we could finally dump them.
March 29, 2010 at 1:43 pm
Nunly, it is not the company, it is the plan that the employer chooses. One of the best policies is Cigna expatriates. Unbelievable coverage, but not available to you or I unless we live outside of the US.
March 29, 2010 at 6:04 pm
Before his company switched health insurance companies we were stuck with the regular Cigna insurance and it was the worst ever! In fact, many of the doctors offices wouldn’t take them anymore because they never paid the doctors.
We have BC/BS now and so far they’ve been ok. Every once in awhile we have to get on their case for a screw up, but on the whole they have been ok..so far.
March 29, 2010 at 6:24 pm
I tell everyone to battle with the insurance companies. It’s the opposite here BCBS is worse than Cigna with the exception of the Federal Employee Benefit Plan.
March 30, 2010 at 5:56 am
“If you like your insurance you can keep it” LIES!
Kind of hard to keep your insurance if your company drops it or no longer offers the same policy because the costs skyrocketed.
NP- kind of makes you wish for a Catholic Hospital with Sisters running the show doesn’t it?
March 30, 2010 at 6:29 am
I caught Hannity last night and they had a big chat about how few people took POTUS’s BFFs and long time associates into account when looking into his past. He has always been a socialist.
March 30, 2010 at 7:33 pm
PMM: I’m afraid those days are past…we have Catholic hospital not six miles from here…nary a Sister…they’re all retired or dead.
And this hospital, in the past, cared for all kinds of everybody…Sisters everywhere…no more.
And to be honest with you, I’d rather go to the Lutheran hospital twelve miles away than to that place…there are some priests on the “ethical board” who would probably want me dead if I was hooked up to life support (I’m not being paranoid here, either:<)!).
You know what?
I'm not going to worry because God is in charge and whatever happens, happens.
I have so little control over most things, I'm not going to lose sleep…but it still ticks me off!
March 31, 2010 at 6:27 am
So true, but it is a shame that these hospitals have gone by the wayside. We closed ours thirty years ago.
March 30, 2010 at 7:20 am
Barack lied. So what else is new?
March 30, 2010 at 8:33 am
Barack lies ALL the time.
Indonesia is none to pleased with this idiot.
http://cdn.nationalreview.com/dest/2010/03/29/23a41ee12f1df5b55f13293f733ddc5a.jpg
March 30, 2010 at 8:32 am
I hate insurance. I wish we’d do away with it altogether.
I’m always amazed at people who say they are against socialism but fail to connect it to insurance. The whole concept of insurance is that healthy people should be made to subsidize sickly people: that is socialism. And that’s bad enough, but individuals trying to purchase coverage and small companies don’t stand a chance against larger and giant-sized companies: our high rates subsidizes rich people’s discounts. So not only is it socialism, it’s socialism that mostly benefits the rich. F#ck that.
March 30, 2010 at 8:37 am
Nom, where do you get that? Our high rates subsidize those that do not carry insurance. Who do you think pays for all the uninsured that walk into an ER? You are paying for those that do not have insurance. BTW, the insurance pools for large companies benefit those that are on the bottom. Those that do not feel pinched are actually subsidizing those at a lower wage.
March 30, 2010 at 8:55 am
where do I get that??? back when I had insurance it cost me 460$/month because I work for a small freaking company. I have a friend whose husband works for a large computer firm: their insurance for him, her, and their 2 kids was $150/month. I paid 12 times per capita what some guy making over 10 times my salary paid. That’s where I get it: REALITY.
March 30, 2010 at 8:56 am
Then blame the amount that you paid on the pool and the plan. That is reality Nom. Like I said, if you and I were able to purchase across state lines, we would see those rates fall to a minimum. Everyone would benefit.
March 30, 2010 at 9:00 am
do you think my company did not shop around for the best deal possible? they did. the problem is there IS no good plan for small companies. FUCK ALL INSURANCE.
March 30, 2010 at 9:06 am
Your company shopped for the best deal. Your company did not have a large pool that was paying into the system. That is what happens. Let me give you an example of how large groups screw their employees for a better deal. The local school district which employs a higher percentage of females cut certain surgical procedures that are endemic to women. Regardless of medical necessity, these women cannot have these life saving procedures. Their plan rates stayed low.
March 30, 2010 at 9:07 am
also: your rate doesn’t subsidize everyone without coverage, because I don’t have coverage and I just don’t get treated. you haven’t paid one red cent for me. I’ve never taken any charity, though I subsidized plenty of people with my astronomical payments for about 30 years of work.
btw the new BHO plan does shop across state lines: it’ll be a race to the bottom to offer the plan with the most extorting payment and offer the least actual coverage.
March 30, 2010 at 9:12 am
Perhaps not now, but it may and that is the dish Nom. It may in the future. You could be hit by lightning tomorrow. That is an unknown.
I had a child with a birth defect. I was a few days short on the pre existing term clause for working there. I had to pay for everything out of pocket. I didn’t take a cent from anyone. I depleted what little savings I had. I didn’t do this once, but several times as she required multiple surgeries. I did not qualify for anything because I worked too many jobs. I had insurance, but not my kid. How do you think that makes me feel? BHO’s bs plan is to use the insurance companies as utilities. The feds will be setting the rates, terms and conditions.
March 30, 2010 at 9:14 am
Can you or anyone else tell me where in the Constitution does it mandate that we, the people MUST purchase a product from a private company?
March 30, 2010 at 10:07 am
http://www.law.georgetown.edu/oneillinstitute/national-health-law/legal-solutions-in-health-reform/Individual_Mandates.html
2 pdfs on constitutionality of mandated insurance purchase
ugh
March 30, 2010 at 9:33 am
that is unknown.”
f#ck that sh&t, until I’ve actually done something, don’t blame me as though I had.
if I got the deal rich people got, I’d f#cking well be able to afford insurance.
do you think those BHO plans are actually going to cover anything? I don’t. I think poor people will be forced to fork over 10% of their meager income or go to jail for 5 years: that’s what this so-called reform calls for. It’s a handout for the rich insurers, not the poor.
March 30, 2010 at 9:40 am
and what’s more, even though you have insurance it is also unknown whether or not something could happen to you that your plan didn’t cover. why do you assume you’d be forced to pay for something, but that others couldn’t be forced to do just the same for you? does your plan cover everything?
March 30, 2010 at 9:47 am
Unfortunately, this doesn’t really wash. When you purchase a plan or tailor a plan, you have those details. It is up to you to read the fine print which is shiteous because those details are changing every plan year. I know what is in my plan because I wrote what I wanted. It is micromanaging. Nom, you would do the same thing in my situation. The problem is that not everyone has a say. The feckless assclowns that we have kept their indemnity plan. BHO tried to say that their indemnity plan was equal to the shit we will be receiving. He is a deceitful human. Did you know that hospice will be reduced for us but not for the Federal Employees Program? Since, BHO has a family history of cancer (grandmother and mother), we will get to pay for his monitoring and whatever else he might need in the future. That goes for his daughters who probably are gene carriers as well. How’s that for change?
March 30, 2010 at 9:53 am
this is not what I meant:
you said I might get hit by lightning and you would be forced to pay for my treatment because I’m uninsured.
I said: even if you are insured, no plan can cover everything: you might also have something happen to you for which you’re not covered and couldn’t pay.
even with a plan, you are a lot closer to my situation than you are with the billionaire insurers who won’t ever have to worry.
March 30, 2010 at 9:58 am
Sorry Nom, WP is changing where and what I am responding to.
Not so Nom, the FEP plan does cover EVERYTHING. As for the billionaires, they can pay out of pocket for anything, anywhere at anytime. They don’t have to subscribe to insurance. I remember one of these billionaires commenting that they didn’t need social security or medicare. The government forced them into the system. They cannot return their monthly checks even if they wanted to. Absurd, isn’t it?
March 30, 2010 at 10:15 am
you are covered by FEP and there is no amount you have to pay beyond your monthly payment? and it covers anything? that is some cadillac plan.
March 30, 2010 at 10:21 am
That is right Nom. They have an out of pocket per year. That is minimal as their plans pay 90/10 rations. That is a cadillac plan. Guess what, they will extend coverage to the kids to 27 at our expense.
March 30, 2010 at 10:30 am
lovely.
one more reason to be against insurance.
March 30, 2010 at 9:40 am
It’s not a handout for ANYBODY Nom. The insurance companies will be used as utilities. They cut their deals with BHO and are in for the long haul. Those with money will ALWAYS be able to leave the country for their care. As for the rest of us, this needs to be repealed. I don’t want BHO or anyone else dictating to me how to care for myself. You have done a fine job all by yourself Nom. So have I considering everything I have had happen in my life. The argument that something must be done about insurance, I agree. The two most important and critical issues (torte reform and anti trust) to address this however, were left in the trash bin.
March 30, 2010 at 9:45 am
10% of 31 million peoples’ income to which they formerly had no access can only be described as an enormous handout to insurers.
besides: insurers are for-profit companies: by very definition they take in more than they payout. they have not been losing money in this system where people go uninsured and underinsured for want of money.
March 30, 2010 at 9:55 am
Insurers are an industry. It is ludicrous to believe that they would do this for no profit. That profit fuels technology which is not cheap.
I will be the first to ask why docs close their doors and the massive insurance companies live like Enron. There is so much that happens behind the curtain Nom. So much that truly few if any would really want to know about health care. POTUS and Congress are the least likely to honestly want to know about this cycle.
It is also a well documented that “poor” people do not take care of themselves as well as those who are more financially secured. They will also be taking more from the system. Their 10% will be tapped at a greater percentage. You need only to look at what the long term cost is for a diabetic patient. It is not easy Nom. The cost benefit analysis in the end will prove that this is not about health care reform, but very much about ignorance. I am still trying to figure out how student loans fit into health care reform?
March 30, 2010 at 10:54 am
I am sure this is going to sound heretical mcnorman, but I think there is entirely too much medical research. we’ve got almost 7 billion people now: the last thing the planet as a whole needs is for everyone to live to 2 freaking hundred years old.
not to mention, we already know what it takes to make people healthy: access to clean water, healthy food without contaminants, physical exercise, and minimal stress.
we need to work on not allowing companies to pollute put chemicals in our food and pay people a living wage so they have better food, more time to exercise, and less stress; not a bunch of freaking drugs.
March 30, 2010 at 10:59 am
I’m all for quality of life, not quantity. Most people in their 80s do not want to be 100+. I ask because I find this interesting. It is about quality of life for most.
March 30, 2010 at 9:48 am
I’d rather just eliminate the insurance. I’m tired of having to subsidize everybody else and have nothing left for myself. It’s not my fault if someone else is sick so it shouldn’t be my responsibility to pay for it. I don’t want to pay for it. I work hard to stay healthy. I just want to pay for my own care.
March 30, 2010 at 10:03 am
I understand Nom, but what about someone who has a genetic problem that surfaces? I know that you could never turn away those that are truly in need and helpless. That is compassion. I could not either. I resent being forced into doing something that I had no say in.
March 30, 2010 at 10:28 am
you have compassion for someone with a genetic illness (your daughter) but not (me) for being poor. ["It is also a well documented that “poor” people do not take care of themselves as well as those who are more financially secured. They will also be taking more from the system."] I fall into the category of a fat, chain-smoking drunk accident waiting to happen and cost others money apparently.
But actually, mcnorman, I am a 5’5″ 105lb nonsmoking infrequent and not to excess drinker non-junkfood consumer who exercises literally every day.
I have compassion for people with genetic illnesses and acquired illnesses and poor people too. And my idea of how to best help them all is not extort money from them for insurance but let them save it for their medical care. I’m all for tort reform, but doctors who are unfit need also to be removed from practice. I’m also for a Constitutional amendment guaranteeing women and minorities wage parity and equal job and educational access. But I’m not for insurance.
March 30, 2010 at 10:35 am
You and I are examples of why the label poor is wrong. It has nothing to do with how we care for ourselves.
March 30, 2010 at 10:36 am
Nom, no one can save enough money for a serious cancer hit. BTW, my status as having had an unnecessary colostomy gives me a pre existing condition for all eternity. Think that is fair? I never use insurance. In all the time I have paid for it, I used it one time for an eye exam.
March 30, 2010 at 10:38 am
I believe in merit Nom, my status as a woman or minority should have nothing to do with parity.
March 30, 2010 at 10:56 am
I am for that as well. but women and minorities who are as good as their white male counterparts are still paid substantially less.
March 30, 2010 at 10:57 am
I agree. There should not be any difference.
March 30, 2010 at 9:15 am
my employer had to pay far more per capita out of his pockets for every aspect of his employees than a big company ceo does.
all of these insurers, banks and their retirement plans, cut deals with the big guys who deliver them heads that are subsidized by the small guys whether you admit it or not.
my employer was robbed, and then I was robbed:
by insurers and banks alike. and this is true for all small business which is of course where most women and minority run firms are located. it is not an accident. just as banks make most of their money off fees levied on poorer clients, so to do insurers make their money from small plans.
March 30, 2010 at 9:23 am
Small plans cost more because there is a huge difference in how they are managed. A small employer who has an employee who might have a child with a severe birth defect can easily take out what the pool has put into place Nom. These bills are not cheap.
I have a friend who had a surgery at a local hospital. It was an outpatient procedure. Her time was less than 7 hours in the facility. Her bill from the facility: $36,000. Her spouse had open heart surgery at the Mayo Clinic and was inpatient for 6 days, his facility bill: $50,000. There are many factors and details which play into this. I can tell you some of it makes no sense except that the hospital that she used was one of the highest billers in the country. This hospital sits in the middle of one of the poorest cities in the country. Tell me that her bill is not used to pay for those that do not pay their bills. Of course her plan paid for those that do not pay.
March 30, 2010 at 9:31 am
It has nothing to do with delivering heads Nom. It is a deep chasm…deep and very dark with a myriad of factors that play into all of it. Since I have been working in this for over 12 years now, I will say that I am always stunned by what goes on in this industry. That being said, I can tell you honestly that what BHO is doing is NOT in the best interest of this country. Anyone who thinks that he is doing the public a service is in for the shock of their lives.
March 30, 2010 at 9:41 am
no kidding, it’s amazing anyone does.
March 30, 2010 at 8:48 am
You have someone walk into an ER with a chest pains (due to indigestion), guess what a slew of very costly exams MUST be done in order to negate an MI. Try $15,000. That same person could walk into a clinic and cost far less. Somewhere around $400.
The liability issues are tremendous for all. Nom, do you realize that physicians in specialists categories at the top tier of malpractice insurance usually work free for 4 months out of the year? The premiums are out of control for them. The health care bs should have had torte reform and discarded the anti trust protection for insurance companies. There would be no need for this crapcare. Everyone would be able to purchase insurance.
Insurance should be there for when you need it. Let me dispel a common myth about insurance. It was there to help out the person in time of need, not pay for their entire bill. At some point, people must be responsible for their own health. It should be available.
March 30, 2010 at 8:57 am
when I was a kid back when most people didn’t have insurance, medical care was cheap. it’s the insurance that drives up the cost.
I am a healthy person, I should be able to pay for ordinary medical care but I can’t.
March 30, 2010 at 9:03 am
You also did not have a litigious society. You didn’t have everyone screaming about how they wanted this and that. The docs were paid what they billed out. Technology costs. It costs a lot.
You should be able to pay for your care. You and I are paying for those that do not have care. Whether they are heavy smokers, drinkers, excessive eaters, etc., we will pay for them. I assure you that while you may go to the local McDoc for a tetnus shot if you cut yourself, the guy who was drunk and ran into a fence with a cut got an ambulance ride with all the bells and whistles to the hospital. Guess who paid? Yes, it sucks big.
March 30, 2010 at 9:19 am
I was paying for people without health insurance and rich people too. it’s possible some of the poor people would have had coverage if they had been able to afford it. So while I don’t think I should have had to pay for either, I resent the rich people more.
March 30, 2010 at 9:24 am
I understand what you are saying. Probably more than you will ever know.
March 30, 2010 at 10:44 am
ObamaCrapCare should be repealed and it is possible.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/printpage/?url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/03/30/four_reasons_repeal_of_health_care_bill_isnt_out_of_the_question_104976.html
March 30, 2010 at 11:10 am
the sooner the better.
March 30, 2010 at 11:17 am
well, we are agreed that some people pay vastly more than others for the same care, that no one can pay for every illness or injury that they might acquire, that people who are perfectly innocent of wrongdoing can need aid, that there is a great deal of corruption in the system, that tort reform is a necessity, that the government gives themselves the best and other citizens the dregs, and that No Insurance Left Behind aka Obamacrapcare is a bad thing.
either eliminate insurance so no one has to subsidize another, or subsidize everyone equally with medicare for all. if we ended all these imperialistic wars there’d be more than enough to pay for it. either alternative works for me. I just don’t want another damn program where I have to subsidize others but get nothing for it.