Pletzke's Chapel Hill Blog » Health Insurance

Harvard’s Jeff Miron on the Obama Health Insurance Proposal

Jonathan Pletzke — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:23:21 +0000

Here is an article worth reading about the nature of health care expenses, how we make the decisions about what to spend and how much, and why having your own health insurance policy may mean that you are a better cost risk than someone on a government or employer’s plan:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06/15/miron.health.costs/index.html

Jonathan Pletzke is a consumer expert on health insurance and author of the health insurance book Get a Good Deal on Your Health Insurance Without Getting Ripped-Off, available online and at bookstores nationally. Additional details can be found at the consumers health insurance book and resources website www.BestHealthInsuranceBook.com. Copyright 2007-2008 Aji Publishing.

Health Insurance Q&A for Small Business

Jonathan Pletzke — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 23:17:34 +0000

This health insurance question came to me recently and I thought it worth sharing:

We are meeting with our health insurance broker tomorrow to review and select options in providing our employees HMO/PPO health insurance benefits. We have many options, and many rates in front of us between two insurers. Would you be able to suggest a few key critical review questions we should be asking our broker both from the perspectives of 1) lowest cost options to the company and 2) acceptable employee options? We have under 50 employees now, and are going to contribute 50% to the plan for the employees. None of us are experts in benefits, so we want to be sure we are making the choices in both the best interest of the company and to our employees which range in age from 22 to 75, half of which are over 50.

From a benefits perspective, you certainly know more about what it takes to attract and retain employees in your industry. My recommendation is to make sure you get all the numbers to make your health insurance spreadsheet for comparison and know how high a health insurance deductible your group will be able to tolerate (the higher the health insurance deductible, the lower the monthly health insurance rate). Depending on the group of employees and creative strategies allowed in your state, some companies are able to create reimbursement packages for employees such that they buy their own health insurance and/or receive HSA contributions from the employer.

Buying health insurance will be an annual exercise for your company, and of course there are other options such as employee leasing companies that can handle all of these details for you. Be sure to check out news stories (such as those from the LA Times and the Wall Street Journal) on these health insurers as well as to check them out via the free online databases in the health insurance resources center. You may also wish to make sure you are considering all of your options by looking at the insurers rated best at in the health insurance resource center and ensuring that you have health insurance quotes from them.

Best wishes on your search.

10 Must-Have Investing and Insurance Books

Jonathan Pletzke — Sat, 10 May 2008 18:36:30 +0000

Get a Good Deal on Your Health Insurance Without Getting Ripped-Off named to "10 Must-have Investing and Insurance books"

"Dummies and Idiot’s guides may get you started in investing and help you understand the intricacies of your insurance policies, but these books are must-haves if you want to be an intelligent investor and consumer." - writes Dave Ralis of PhillyBurbs.com, the online version of the Bucks County Courier Times, who placed Get a Good Deal on Your Health Insurance Without Getting Ripped-Off on his list of "10 Must-have Investing and Insurance Books".

Five Star Book Review: Health Insurance Book at Retire Early Home Page

Jonathan Pletzke — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 23:10:20 +0000

Another 5 Star Review for "Get a Good Deal on Your Health Insurance Without Getting Ripped-Off" was posted recently at the Retire Early Home Page, one of the most interesting and useful sites for people interested in what it really takes to retire early. John P. Greaney, who successfully retired early at a young age, has very useful information covering all aspects of early retirement.

FM Talk 101 Audio Clip

Jonathan Pletzke — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 20:01:37 +0000

Listen to a brief audio clip from an appearance on FM Talk 101 with Brad and Britt in the morning. The format of the program was an introduction of Jonathan and the health insurance book Get a Good Deal on Your Health Insurance Without Getting Ripped-Off, followed by discussion with the hosts about the health insurance book, and then to the callers, who provided questions that Jonathan was able to answer well.

Cavalcade of Risk #45: Is love a risk?

Jonathan Pletzke — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 17:32:44 +0000

The latest Cavalcade of Risk blog carnival is lovely. It is hosted this time by I’ve Paid For This Twice Already and includes some excellent reads on risk (health insurance being my favorite). My blog posting on health insurance copayments is included.

Best Hip Replacement Procedure Saves Money, Time, and Anguish

Jonathan Pletzke — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 19:17:10 +0000

Today’s post about hip replacement surgery reminded me of the huge difference in money, time, and anguish that can occur when a hip replacement is needed. We had a family member who has had a hip replaced in the “regular” way - with months of rehab, following a few weeks in the hospital. Had we known in advance about procedures like the one mentioned in the InsureBlog post “Nice joint. Thanks, I’m hip.”, our family member would have saved months of recovery, thousands of dollars in hospital costs, and been back on her feet in days, back at work.

When looking at the cost of health insurance and procedures, we often overlook the non-covered costs to the patient and family, which can sometimes exceed the costs of the procedure. Being out of work for months, needing additional care at home (or in a facility), and the physical pain and accompanying mental anguish are large costs, too. If you are in the market for a hip replacement, or know someone who might, shop around for different doctors and different approaches. There might be a huge difference.

And while I don’t know alternative treatments for many other maladies, there have got to be some other big ones, such as the difference between back surgery versus chiropractic or osteopathic medicine.

Health Wonk Review at the Health Business Blog

Jonathan Pletzke — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:44:14 +0000

It took me some time to figure out that a Health Wonk is a Health Policy Commentator, and this week the Health Business Blog hosts the Health Wonk Review, which includes folks saying what the candidates should be thinking about regarding health policy, including health insurance. You’ll notice my post Two Specific Areas for Improvement in U.S. Healthcare is included, along with some other interesting insights. Go read the posts!

HSA changes booklet arrives 1/28/2008, with effective date 1/1/2008 and cover date 7/07

Jonathan Pletzke — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 21:33:16 +0000

Why did I just get a “clarifications and changes” document in the mail yesterday, when the effective date on the “clarifications and changes” was 28 days prior, and the date that the information was prepared is listed as 7/07? Shouldn’t I have gotten the information sooner? What if I had made a claim in the new year, but didn’t receive the changes until today? It’s not as though the insurer didn’t have the changes - they probably filed them with the State of North Carolina in July of ‘07.

My preference would be to get the changes a month or two before they became effective, so that if I had any issue I could take action and make changes. Fortunately the changes won’t impact us, but it would have been nice to be notified ahead of time.

Greatest Irony: Health Plan Workers Consider Strike Over Their Health Insurance

Jonathan Pletzke — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 19:43:02 +0000

As unbelievable as it sounds, some HealthPartners employees are talking about striking over *their* health insurance benefits, as I found at the Minneapolis Saint Paul Business Journal and Pioneer Press. At issue is the need for employees to pay a portion of their medical premium, and a change in the way prescriptions are paid.

Obvious to management is that the costs associated with the group have gone up due to the utilization of medicine, but apparently that same point of view is not shared by the workers. What can management do? They can cave in to the demands of the workers, and find another way to pay the difference: by increasing costs, and premiums to create a larger margin in operations to cover the costs.

But, you may ask, what about corporate profits, and those blood-suckers who run the insurance side of HealthPartners? HealthPartners is the largest consumer-governed, nonprofit health care organization in the nation.