Of course, "us" liberals know best!
"Bill seeks insurance option for firms; Would join forces for health plans" by Kay Lazar, Globe Staff | June 1, 2009
Small-business owners, many struggling to stay afloat, are trying to band together to buy employee health insurance in much the same way cities and towns were granted permission a few years ago.
Such an arrangement, they say, would give them big-company-style clout to bargain for better prices and pass the savings on to their workers, who face plans they cannot afford. But in order for small businesses to negotiate as a group, a state law must be changed. And that is not an easy venture....
Well, gee, they seem to ROLL THROUGH the TAX INCREASES and SENATE SLEIGHT-OF-HAND easy enough! What a bull-oney of an INSULT!
Representative Steven M. Walsh's legislation - pending before the Legislature's Financial Services Committee - is drawing heat from some business and insurance groups that say it could create more problems than it solves and that it undermines hard-fought accomplishments of the state's 2006 healthcare overhaul law.
Oh, if business and powerful special interests (not you, tax-paying Bay State resident) are agin' it then it will be tough to pass. And I'm liking that overhaul less and less every day.
A primary goal of the law was to extend health insurance to nearly every resident and to make it more affordable. To do that, the state combined two insurance markets: one that served small businesses and one that catered to individuals who purchased coverage on their own because they didn't have access to employer-provided care and didn't qualify for state-subsidized insurance.
How many times to I have to type SINGLE PAYER today!
The merger eased insurance rates, on average, about 15 percent for individuals, but boosted rates for small businesses by about 1.5 percent, according to state data. Now the trade association that represents most health insurers in Massachusetts said changing the rules would, again, increase costs for individuals and for small businesses that don't join the proposed new pool.
Every time they make a change around here it turns to s***.
How? Insurers calculate rates based largely on the ages of a business's workers, with lower prices for a younger workforce, which tends to be healthier and need less care. If small businesses with younger workers join the new group pool, opponents said, it would leave an older workforce in the other small-business market, leaving them vulnerable to higher overall rates charged by insurers.
"There are other ways to help small businesses," said Dr. Marylou Buyse, president of the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans. Buyse and the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the state's leading business trade group, are instead backing a proposal that would make it easier for small-business owners to tap a state-subsidized plan, known as the Insurance Partnership, that would contribute toward employees' monthly insurance premiums.
You know what the answer is, folks.
That idea isn't winning many takers among the 3,000-member Retailers Association of Massachusetts, nor the Massachusetts Chamber of Business & Industry, which back Walsh's proposed legislation. They say that helping small businesses compete with bigger companies for cheaper insurance rates - instead of relying on another state-funded program - is a better way to go.
Yeah, state funding is only good for usurious interest payments to banks, lost loot to biotechs, fart mist, and looting legis', and profitable interests like Hollywood.
"We are now how many years into healthcare reform, but we have done nothing to ensure the little guy is getting a fair deal versus the big guy," said Jon Hurst, president of the retailers association....
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Meanwhile, some small-business owners are eager for quick relief.
"I am fighting every year to keep my rate increases below double digits," said Eric Michelson, co-owner of Michelson's Shoes in Lexington and Needham, an 80-year-old family business. "Why can a large corporation negotiate a cheaper rate and small groups are forbidden? It's not a fair and level playing field."
In liberal Massachusetts? Yer kidding?
After an 18 percent increase in health premiums last year, Michelson swallowed hard this year and made a decision that many other small employers say they increasingly are being forced to make: He chose a plan with smaller upfront increases to the employer but eye-popping out-of-pocket costs to his workers.
So DON'T GET SICK!!!!
For Michelson and his 22 employees, some with the company for 30 years, that meant choosing a plan with a $1,000 yearly deductible to be paid by the employee before insurance will cover medical tests and other procedures. To cushion the blow this first year, Michelson has offered to help pay his employees' deductible.
You know what the answer is, right?
So where is the help?
"Healthcare bill would cut costs to small firms" by Tara Ballenger, Globe Correspondent | July 15, 2009
Massachusetts health insurers yesterday offered a plan - scheduled to be filed later this week - they say will help make healthcare coverage more affordable for small businesses....
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Okay, and action on it?
"Insurance options for small firms studied; Patrick might back legalization of group purchases to cut costs" by Kay Lazar, Globe Staff | August 7, 2009
Still studying it?
Amid growing complaints from small businesses about soaring health insurance costs, the Patrick administration is eyeing a much-debated proposal that would allow companies to band together, bargain for cheaper rates, and pass the savings on to employees.
The proposal tops the list of potential solutions under review by three of Governor Deval Patrick’s chief advisers, who have been instructed by Patrick to come up with recommendations by Labor Day, Gregory Bialecki, secretary of Housing and Economic Development, said yesterday. “We have heard it from too many folks for too long,’’ Bialecki said. “This is a real problem.’’
The issue comes at a sensitive time, as small-business owners across the country worry about the potential effect of a national insurance overhaul on their companies and look toward Massachusetts for guidance.
Please, please, do NOT DO THAT!!! Run away, run far, far away!
The state’s groundbreaking 2006 law extended health insurance to nearly every resident. It also required businesses that employ more than the equivalent of 11 full-time workers to offer coverage or pay a penalty. After the law took effect, coverage costs declined an average of 15 percent for some individuals, but rates for small businesses rose by about 1.5 percent, according to state data....
Also see:
Why the Nation Doesn't Need Massachusetts Health Care
Massachusetts Health Care Takes a Seat on the S***ter
No, the rest of the country does not want some conglomerate ripping them off, hence the anger at us know-better-than-thou "liberals."
“This, in a way, is rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic,’’ said Dr. Marylou Buyse, president of the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans. “It’s not dealing with the issues that are driving up costs. As long as doctors and hospitals keep raising their prices and people use more and more services, healthcare costs are going to go up.’’
Heck of a film, but not a good sign for healthcare!
ICEBERG RIGHT AHEAD, America!!!
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