By Andi Atwater
The Wichita Eagle
November 2, 2006
Three of Wichita’s largest insurance carriers are introducing new products this year and next that will help employers offer affordable benefits to just about every employee — even those ineligible for traditional medical coverage or who opted out for financial reasons.
These plans — often called “mini-medical” plans because they typically have limited or capped benefits and high deductibles — can save employers or their employees up to 40 percent from their traditional group coverage.
Industry experts say demand among employers is prompting this new emphasis on trimmed-down health benefits.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas, which covers about 100,000 people in Sedgwick County, rolled out a new, limited-benefit product Wednesday that gives employers a more affordable way to offer health benefits.
Called EssentialBlue, the plan caps benefits at $30,000, but covers routine and preventive care after a co-payment.
CIGNA HealthCare, which insures 17,500 employees in the Wichita area, will introduce Fundamental Care in Kansas early next year. It’s a limited-benefit plan that can save employers between 25 percent and 40 percent from traditional coverage.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/business/industries/healthcare/15906000.htm
And…
Many Employers Promote High-Deductible Health Plans During Open Enrollment Period
kaisernetwork.org
November 7, 2006
November 7, 2006
The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday examined how “employers are trying to get workers to confront ever-rising” out-of-pocket heath care costs as the open enrollment period for health plans “goes into high gear at many companies.”
According to the Journal, the efforts to “get workers to do the math” on health care costs “are coming chiefly from employers that are offering workers new ‘consumer-driven health plans,'” which often have deductibles of at least $1,000 and cost less for employers than plans with lower deductibles.
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/print_report.cfm?DR_ID=40920&dr_cat=3
Comment:
By Don McCanne, MD
The insurers in the individual market have survived by introducing products with affordable premiums, but they have been able to do so only by sharply curtailing the financial security offered by these plans (by reducing benefits and increasing cost sharing). These plans have provided a (false) sense of security for those who remain healthy, but they have defeated the purpose of insurance by creating financial hardships for those with significant health care needs.
Until recent years, employer-sponsored plans have provided more comprehensive benefit packages and have exposed employees to only modest out-of-pocket expenses. That is now changing. The dramatic increase in the use of high-deductible plans has resulted in truly unaffordable out-of-pocket spending for the majority of individuals who develop major health problems. Worse, the newer products that are also stripped of benefits offer no financial security for those with needs. As employer-sponsored plans copy the deficient products in the individual insurance market, private insurance plans are headed toward obsolescence.
Can you imagine Blue Cross Blue Shield capping benefits at $30,000? That’s not insurance; that’s a crime!