The 10,000 Pound Healthcare Gorilla | Nov 18th 2007
As a sole proprietor in New York state I don’t have many options for comprehensive health coverage. I currently get discounted health insurance through a local chamber of commerce, an option available to all businesses including self-employed individuals.
So how much does it cost to insure my family? Even with my Chamber membership, I pay over $12,000 per year. Again, this is a discounted rate. If I were to go directly to the insurance company it would cost me more than twice that.
In addition to my exorbitant monthly premium, I pay the typical doctors’ office co-payments, prescription drug co-payments, any out of network services and dental care for myself and my husband. My insurance plan (like most) doesn’t cover over-the-counter drugs or miscellaneous services (like speech therapy for my 3-year-old).
This is a big deal. I think it’s important to write about this issue, because it is an overwhelming obstacle for self-employed individuals. Between health insurance and taxes, fully 40% of my income is gone before I’ve even paid a single bill.
Besides getting benefits through a Chamber of Commerce, or paying an insurance company directly, I really have no options for health insurance. I’m not eligible for Healthy NY due to my income level. Even if my income was low enough, I’d need to go without insurance for up to 12 months before I could enroll.
My next best option for reducing the high monthly cost of insurance is to switch my plan from an HMO to a high deductible PPO. This cuts my monthly premium in half, but requires me to put money into a health savings account. It would mean I’d need to pay for all medical expenses out of pocket (through the health savings account) until an annual deductible of about $5,000 was met, at which point the insurance company would pay a certain percentage of my medical costs.
Am I missing something?
Politicians like Rudy Giuliani denounce universal healthcare as “socialized medicine” that limits free market competition. In a recent radio ad, Giuliani said, “You and I should be making the decisions about what kind of health care we get with our doctors, not with a government bureaucrat.”
Can he be serious? Doesn’t he realize that the 43.6 million Americans who don’t have health insurance have absolutely no decision-making power whatsoever? And those of us that are struggling to stay insured are hardly better off. My insurance does not cover out of network providers. That pretty much limits my healthcare “choices” to “stay in network and get reimbursed” or “starve.”
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This article was first published in the Poughkeepsie Journal on Saturday, November 3, 2007.