Thursday, September 14, 2006

Risk vs. Fantasy

According to the latest UBA survey, the average cost of providing insurance through employee benefit plans is $311 per employee per month. This is based on a survery of 13,663 health plans sponsored by 9,603 employers covering 3.52M lives.

What is significant is the cost per employee per month . . . $311.

Compare that to the MN plan to insure everyone for $190 per person per month, and the infamous CA plan (BS 840) who claims to be able to insure everyone for $95 per person per month.

The $311 figure comes from people who are actually MANAGING risk.

The other figures come from . . . magicians.

The $311 figure includes plans that have deductibles & penalties for out of network utilization.

The other figures are based on plans with no deductibles and free access to any provider.

Carriers are risk takers with years of actuarial data to support their figures.

Politicians are people who watch the polls and make statements that have little or no data to support their promises.

Carriers are accountable to regulatory agencies.

Politicians are accountable to no one.

No doubt, having health insurance without restriction for less than $100 per month is something all of us would like. Making it a reality is like pulling a rabbit out of the hat.
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