I might be able to accuse the LA Times of beating a dead horse because they do write about individualized health care plans quite a bit. But as a small business owner who has had one of these terrible plans, and participated in this particular health care racket, I think the more attention brought to them the better.
Why are these plans so bad?
Here’s my personal list:
a. the deductibles are much higher (e.g., $5000+) than for plans through employers
b. the benefits are lower (and often non-existent) than for plans through employers
c. insurance companies cherry pick who they cover and reject the rest (God help you find insurance once you are rejected by one company—it’s the equivalent to being blackballed for life. And remember if you’ve had a C-section, you will be automatically rejected.)
d. the rates increase drastically as you age (e.g., I had the nerve to turn 35. God help me.)
e. insurance companies charge more if you disclose conditions (e.g., I saw a therapist three times four years ago as I left a terrible job. I got charged 25% more for the premium because of this. Three times, mind you. Three times.)
f. insurance companies will cancel your policy if you actually dare to use the insurance (e.g., pregnancy, cancer, migraines, indigestion)—it’s illegal to do this, and yet they do it all the time.
g. these plans are scarcely regulated at all (smart, huh?)
And on an electoral vote, when I evaluate how a candidate supports small businesses, the primary way I do that is not by how much they want to tax me, but how much they want to help with my health care problem.
Read more stories about individualized health care plans here.
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