Quote:
Originally Posted by Drolefille
I don't like that, there are a lot of reasons why you can't control some of that. And hard and fast lines are not necessarily reflective of actual health. I understand their reasoning, and I'm not sure I have a better measure of health myself, but I wouldn't be thrilled by it. (Which is why I'm pro single-payer. If you put everyone in the same pool you distribute the risk.)
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Which is why it has caused an uproar. Add to it the fact that our employer owns the HMO and people are claiming conflict of interest, concerns about HIPAA, etc. Here I sit with Crohn's Disease, which will cost my insurance company a lot over the years, if I stay with them, yet my co-worker with uncontrolled diabetes will be paying the big bucks. As I said, they are phasing it in. Last year, we only had to agree to follow our doctor's treatment plans for these conditions. Each year the requirements become more stringent.
Last year, when they were first giving us information about this plan (with NO hint of it getting more stringent), I went to an info meeting and asked for information on the deductible and increased co-pays. The representative said "Why? You don't have to pay those, just follow these steps". That really ticked me off...lol. I said "What if I have a spouse who will refuse to quit smoking?" He replied, "Just show him how much more it will cost and he will quit."
I said "I was giving you a hypothetical but if you think that those increased costs will get a smoker to quit, you're wrong. Cigarettes now cost %600 more than they did when most adults started smoking but they are still smoking." He said "But smokers cost us a lot of money." I said "I quit smoking a year ago so this doesn't apply to me BUT, I was never in my life treated for a smoking related illness." He said "But if you kept smoking, you would eventually." I pointed out to him that the minute I'm that sick, I'll be on disability and no longer employed by that system and, therefore would not HAVE their insurance anymore. He didn't know what to say to that. Sorry but, my employer's HMO isn't paying for any really, really serious disease of mine.