Quote:
Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB
My mother has been struggling to control her type II diabetes since she was diagnosed with it nearly 10 years ago. First the doctor and dietitians worked with her on controlling it just with diet. She made a ton of progress, lost a lot of weight, eventually retired (which happened to also improve her health), but even after all that work, her blood sugar readings and organ functioning tests still aren't good enough. So now she's finally on insulin...after all this time. Diabetes is extremely hard to control, even with medication. And to punish people for trying to control it is WRONG. Since your company owns the HMO I'm sure they know what happens to their employees when they don't treat their diabetes.
I would be furious if my company went with an insurance plan with a list of qualifications like that. Pretty much the only group of people that qualify for those low rates are young employees, since high blood pressure, high cholesterol, weight gain and diabetes are common in older demographics.
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You're looking at this wrong. No one is punishing anyone. The company is combining a group and individual insurance policy method. To give you an example, I have chronic migraines. Recently I had to try to buy medical insurance on the individual market in Arizona. I was turned down by every single carrier in the state despite having $1000 a month stipend from my employer to pay my premiums. $1000! If your mother tried to buy insurance on the individual market, she would be uninsurable. The only reason she has insurance is because she has group insurance. The other employees could argue that she is punishing them with higher premiums because of her bad health. The company has made the decision to split the difference and give small breaks to people who meet specific markers and increase premiums for people who don't. Is it fair? What is fair? While I wish that I could get an insurance policy, I can understand why no one will insure me. When and if I get an individual policy under HCR, it will cost my an arm and a leg. I also know how much it costs to insure a poorly controlled diabetic on insulin, whether or not her poorly controlled state is all "her fault." In the end, we both still cost a lot to insure.
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