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Any assessment of today’s health care system could best be described as playing the old party game “hot potato.” For those not old enough to recall the rules, it involved multiple players arranged in a circle passing an object to the next person while music was playing. When it stopped, the person holding the hot potato loses, and is thus eliminated. In the present game of health care reform, no one is really talking about fixing the underlying problems. Instead, they want to “tweak” certain parts so the game continues and the hot potato gets tossed along to another generation. Somehow, the common American will be left holding the bag again.

Many industry experts believe the root cause of today’s health care crisis is that market incentives are not aligned. Instead of competitive forces bringing about change and innovation to lower costs and improve the quality of care, the current health structure produces cost shifting, inexcusable medical errors, soaring utilization, and government intervention. Problems and skyrocketing costs get passed from generation to generation in an upward spiral of complication. This process is dooming future generations of Americans.

“If there must be trouble let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.”
~ Thomas Paine

In decades past, many attempts have been made to control inflationary health care pressures. Wage and price controls were instituted in the 1970’s; Voluntary restraints were tried in the 1980’s; Managed-care was initially thought to be our savior in the 1990’s. All failed because they proved to be little more than foolish financial engineering. Now the Obama administration, along with House and Senate leaders, are proposing new government legislation aimed at fixing the system.

However, unless we correct the misaligned economic incentives, the financial burden on our country will continue. All sides (insurance companies, consumers and government) are out of balance. For example, the attitude of most health insurance companies needs to change. Ask any of their executives how long a typical insured stays with their company and they will likely snap a figure off the top of their head. To them, customers are transitory and simply move onto the next carrier in a few short years. This reduces their incentive to invest time, effort, and money to encourage healthy lifestyles or to build a long-term client relationship.

Conversely, the same broken incentives apply on the consumer side. Ask any American how they would want their health benefits to work and the response might be, “I want it to pay 100% of everything all the time.” As it is, the Kaiser Family Foundation estimated that in 2007 employers paid nearly 73% of their employees’ health insurance premiums. First-dollar insurance coverage and employer funded plans have encouraged the overuse of health care services. Over time, people have become accustomed to the small amount they pay out of pocket while the actual costs for care are ignored. Noted MIT economist Amy Finkelstien has studied how America’s third-party insurance system has impacted the market and become the driving force behind our health care spending trends.

Government officials involved in drafting the new health care legislation have yet to discuss their failures. A glaring case in point is the government’s lack of accountability for their past health care cost projections. For example, in 1966 Medicare expenditures were $3 billion. In that same year, the House Ways and Means Committee had projected that costs would rise to $12 billion by 1990. However, ACTUAL Medicare spending in 1990 was $107 billion. That is a whopping miscalculation by 791%!

Although everyone agrees that some health care restructuring is needed, and support remains high for change, Americans should not allow for a redesigned system to emerge that is as bad as the existing one (or worse). Individuals should contact their representatives in Washington DC, in order to help shape the final health care bill. President Obama has put “shared sacrifice” on the table and that is what all parities should accept to ensure that the health care hot potato game ends. This will allow for meaningful market reforms to improve quality, bring about innovation, and reduce long-term costs.

Ask any American how they would want their health insurance benefits to work (if given a choice) and the answer might be, “It should pay 100% of everything all the time.” With that kind of consumer response, one might hesitate to suggest that what they really need is to set up an HSA (Health Savings Account) policy with a large deductible.

I too would want health insurance that pays 100% of everything all the time if I were absolutely certain that my plan would pay for everything I was prescribed. However, the opposite is more likely to happen. Whatever plan coverage you have today, is not likely to be the plan coverage you will have ten years from today. Worse yet, health plans are rapidly reducing coverage, raising premiums, restricting benefits, and shifting costs onto the insured.

President Obama has already made it known that his healthcare reforms will involve cost controls. In part, his program will rank the effectiveness of various medications and medical procedures so that the “less worthy” (as compared to their cost) can be eliminated! This all sounds good in theory but the end-result could be that many Americans will have to pay out-of-pocket for medications and procedures that might otherwise have been covered by their health insurance.

If you are not a wealthy person, or a Washington big-wheel, then your quality of care could be at risk because you will not have access to the latest or best medical technologies. An easy defense that consumers can employ is to switch their coverage to a high-deductible HSA health plan and start setting aside extra monies to help cover the cost of their future medical care.

Simply put, an HSA is a health insurance policy with lower premiums because it carries a high plan deductible. What is more, the premium savings can be deposited into a special tax-advantaged account that can be used for “qualified” healthcare expenses or for retirement. These accumulated funds can help provide an added degree of treatment flexibility in the case of an illness. This could become especially important in the event that your health insurance plan denies important treatments.

As an example, look at the recent controversy surrounding Pfizer’s cancer medication Sutent. Britian’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) decides which treatments are cost effective, and thus worth paying for under their “free” national healthcare system. Originally, they denied coverage for this Rx because they said it was too costly for the relatively short period of time it could extend a patient’s life. After unprecedented pressure from a number of sources, they moderated their position so that select patients could receive it.

Unfortunately, the number of insurance payment denials (under the auspices of “cost containment”) will undoubtedly rise in the future. Consumers who have accumulated an HSA nest egg will have more flexibility with their care. As a patient in the aforementioned example, you could simply have used your HSA monies to pay the Sutent Rx costs.

Having a serious illness (like cancer) is traumatic enough. Having money set aside to help control your own medical care at a tumultuous time can provide real peace of mind. Without it, you may be left to the devices of an insurance company bean counter or one of the government bureaucrats tasked with running health care.

For those of us who cannot write a check at the drop-of-the-hat to cover expensive therapies, a tax-deductible, and tax-advantage savings nest egg is our best defense. We should all prepare for the day when government penny pinchers get more involved in our healthcare decisions as the effort gets underway to reduce our free-wheeling medical expenditures.

The business world methodically concentrates on numbers, creating revenue, and attracting new clients. When health care is your business, you should remember to take a step back from the “time to make the donuts” mentality and consider the other side of your company (i.e., the human side). Although the iconic Dunkin’ Donuts advertisement featuring Fred the Baker was a catchy way to sell a morning treat with your coffee, too much of this “by the numbers” assembly line attitude permeates our current health care system. If President Obama and the Democratic leaders in the United States House and Senate proceed with their plans, government could simply be replacing the business bean counters and creating new areas of patient concern.

Day after day, we at Peoples Health Insurance focus on the importance of health care and how to reach millions of uninsured Floridians. We take pride in our easy to use Web site and feel confident that the quality of information you will find is an asset when searching for a Florida Health Insurance quote. However, I have recently found myself looking at the other side of the insurance industry. That is, a noticeably growing number of people have become ill and are in the throws of a life changing medical development. As an aging Baby Boomer myself, I am certain that others have made this observation. More troublesome, are the ghoulish stories featuring the icons of our era (like Farrah Fawcett) as headliners on the evening news retorting the facts of their deadly condition. This only serves to heighten our anxiety about our own mortality.

The grim reality is that even larger-than-life Hollywood heavyweights, who somehow appear to be untouchable, are subject to the same ailments that all Americans face. Their glamorously led lifestyles and financial success is not enough to ward off real, serious, and fatal illnesses such as cancer. Paul Newman for example died in September of 2008 after a long battle with cancer; Patrick Swayze is currently fighting pancreatic cancer; more recently, Farrah Fawcett has appeared in the media with updates on her brush with anal cancer, which has brought new attention to this rarely discussed disease.

As we all know, purchasing a Florida Medical Insurance plan is designed to defray the financial costs of fighting disease and illness. For wealthy celebrities, they are blessed with a certain amount of added financial backing that can be used to enhance their treatment, especially in the event that their health insurance policy contains coverage gaps. For those of us who are mere mortals, the reality of a serious illness would mean financial devastation without some form of quality coverage. Nevertheless, no matter whom you are or your status in the world, at some point you will realize that you can no longer extend your life any farther. As I watch Farrah Fawcett struggle, I cannot seem to clear this thought from my mind.

Sickness and dying are subjects that most Americans would rather not discuss. After all, we get up in the morning and look forward to the day. Just as easy, we could consider that same day as just one closer to our own demise! As the health care debates continues to rage in Washington, DC, we should demand that our legislators and business leaders remember what they are debating; the future of an industry that touches the lives of everyone in our country. Somehow, we should all strive to keep the human side of the debate on the table as we carve up the numbers to determine who wins and who loses in the warfare called health care reform.

When it comes to shopping for quality Florida health insurance, you can either apply directly with each individual insurance carrier, or use an independent on-line agent for quotes.  Whichever way you go, both will yield the exact same benefits, premium rates, and chance of being approved for a policy.  However, only one choice will allow a fast and simple side-by-side plan comparison from a number of competing insurance carriers and that is by going with an on-line independent agent.

Shop around if you need to satisfy your curiosity.  Why not save yourself a lot of time, hard work and headache by using the Peoples Health Insurance Web site. Keep it simple, healthcare is confusing enough.

More and more, doctors and other health practitioners are asking patients – even those with insurance – to pay their share of the costs up front, either before they are treated or before they leave the office.

Providers say the practice isn’t entirely new. But with patients now shouldering a greater share of health costs, through insurance plans with higher deductibles, co-pays, and coinsurance, they acknowledge a bigger push to collect fees at the time of service. The providers say that it becomes more difficult to collect from patients after they walk out the door.

Some worry that up-front costs could affect patients’ relationships with their doctors. Other worry they could lead to people delaying or avoiding treatment and care. They also say that dealing with up-front costs in the midst of an illness or health crisis adds stress to an already stressful situation.

We, at Peoples Health Insurance, say that if you have health insurance, you should always ask the provider to bill your insurance carrier so that you can receive the “negotiated” rate for that service. Not unless the office is willing to negotiate a usual, customary, and reasonable rate; also known as UCR.

Finally, we think that cost shifting is going to continue, and therefore, patients must become more savvy about the health care system and learn know how it works. That is one reason why our agency stands taller than other organizations; our agents have a diverse back ground in the health care industry!

Hello and Welcome,

This is a blog devoted to Florida Health Insurance, and everything that is involved with it from: Quotes, Rates, Issues, Regulations and what they mean to you, and many other interesting topics. I look forward to having an open discussion with any one that is interested.  I live in Florida myself and have been working in the health insurance quote industry for more time than I’d like to acknowledge  : ] I have a good pal named Aaron though some call him Dubs and my sister Holly who is also a certified insurance agent, and a real cool lady. Aaron says I’m pretty cool, but what does he know about that -lol

Well I do hope you’ll come back and visit, and if you need a Health Insurance Quote or Health Insurance in Florida right NOW…..Head on over to my: Made for you Quote Engine ; ]  at:  Peoples Health Insurance

Chat Soon,

P

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