a community of practitioners

Do you have group health coverage?

Does anyone provide group to their employees?
Does anyone have it for themselves?

Do you use coverage provided by any of the professional associations? How would you rate it?
Does anyone have any suggestions for how to obtain adequate health insurance coverage if you've been stigmatized with a "pre-existing health condition"?

I think that about sums it up :)

Thank you.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jessica Weagle on March 13, 2010 at 5:48pm

I use to be a member of NAMASTA and they have health insurance for their members, but it is not good coverage. I went to have a yealy dr. visit with lab work and my insurance only paid $75 towards the visit. And the same thing when I took my daughter to the Dr. for school. So I am now I have about $3,000 worth of Dr. bills I am payng down and no insurance bc I can't payoff the Dr.'s and pay for insurance at the same time

Permalink Reply by Ruth E. N. Cox on March 13, 2010 at 6:43pm

If there was ever a timely discussion topic this is it. A lot of people do not understand their insurance coverages and how much has changed in the last few years. Health care Prices and Premiums are skyrocketing and what is covered is shrinking.
I do provide major medical coverage and subsidize the cost for my employees. Also, my staff W2 employees, not 1099 independent contractors. I provide other benefits as well. I am using a Private Employer Organization (PEO) that includes group health plans and am also looking at just doing group insurance as well. I find the health care costs to be comparable. I have not used the coverage provided by the professional associations because I have found that most of these are not actually major medical health insurance policies, but more like the type of specialized or limited insurance products by AFLAC or Assurant. For example, a maternity policy that pays the employee by the day from AFLAC or Assurant would be a great option for an employee working for a business that declined maternity from their major medical.
Working with a good health insurance broker that specializes in health care will help you get education and get the information you need to provide proper coverage options for yourself and your team.

Permalink Reply by Relax & Rejuvenate on July 15, 2010 at 11:42am

We have been offering Health Insurance to our employees for 7 years.

We were introduced to United Health Care through AMTAs insurance broker, Marsh, but AMTA had no involvement in it other than the initial referral.

If you are in a group policy, you won't be denied enrollment due to PEC, but you may not get treatment under the coverage for PEC. one of our employees was a diabetic, and she never complained that anyone turned her down for coverage after enrolling.

The options of the plans are mind-numbing and have wide-ranges of prices. Also, your rates will increase each year, but it is mainly driven by the usage of other groups in that plan/product. Last year we faced a 30% increase due to some stupid consumer behavior (no, its not all the evil insurance companies), so we switched to a different plan which stuck us with a 10% increase for next year.