Since 11-19-06
Unconscionable spike in health
care costs
Since 11-19-06
From: Waspscpo@aol.com
Sent: Saturday, November 18, 2006 10:54 AM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: Unconscionable spike in health care costs
http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2006/11/17/opinion/commentary/doc455dc79e82546833525287.txt
Don't complain too loud. Get a load of this !!!!
Unconscionable spike in health care costs
The Napa Valley Register
By ROCKY SHERIDAN
November 17, 2006
Having attended a health benefits seminar at the federal building in Santa Rosa
on Oct. 18, I saw there were projected increases in health insurance premiums
presented to attendees by various providers for the calendar year 2007.
As a comparison of health plans other than Kaiser Permanente, the scale of
raises in Northern California is: Aetna lowered one plan and the other plan had
a slight increase; Blue Cross had a little over a 9 percent increase; Health Net
was in the area of 10 to 14 percent; and Pacific Care went up by about 5
percent. G.E.H.A. and mail handlers’ health plans had slight increases.
Kaiser Foundation Health Plan is raising their high option rates in 2007 on
retired seniors from the federal government a whopping 51.6 percent for self and
family members.
In 2005, my monthly contribution to my Kaiser health plan was $235.12. In 2006,
my monthly contribution was $260.75 and in 2007, my monthly contribution will be
an outrageous, monstrous and even heinous raise, to $395. And the sicko part of
this is Kaiser expects us seniors to “thrive” on this.
At the Santa Rosa seminar, Mr. Russell Lawrence, an enrollment specialist
representing the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, was asked the question (by me)
of why such a large increase has been made with regard to monthly premiums.
This was Mr. Lawrence’s answer: First, it is because of the loss of federal
employee enrollment, due to all the federal base closures in Northern
California, and second, because of lack of Medicare reimbursement to Kaiser.
This is pure hogwash — plain and simple, the answers to these statements of Mr.
Lawrence is first, the Base Closures Commission, starting under President Reagan
until the present, has been closing federal facilities and military bases
throughout the United States and worldwide.
Mare Island Naval Shipyard, the largest single federal employer, was closed in
May of 1996 — more than 11 years ago, and the last military base closed over
five years ago. Second, as a federal worker, we had our own retirement system
and were not required to pay into the Social Security system, exempting us from
Medicare because we were under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program,
known as FEHBP.
When Medicare was enacted, we were required to pay in to Medicare even though we
could not receive any Medicare benefits. A few workers that had worked under
both retirement systems opted out of Part B Medicare because they were satisfied
with the FEHBP program benefits.
Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc. has been aware of the base closures and
Medicare reimbursements for more than 22 years. Then why now stab federal
retirees with this outrageous penalty for being Kaiser members? I joined Kaiser
in 1960, and have been a loyal member ever since. Now, I will be forced to shop
around for a better and cheaper plan.
If you are a group employer, human resources manager, union representative,
state, county or city employee, you need to ask yourself this question: If
Kaiser can pull this ludicrous action on a group of senior retirees, what will
my chances be if that Kaiser pulls the same action on me when I retire?
Being a Kaiser member could be hazardous to your health and disastrous to your
pocketbook. All of your cost of living adjustments will go to Kaiser, plus they
will dig into your retirement check. Is this called “thriving?”
(Sheridan, a former Mare Island worker, lives in Napa and is a service officer
for the National Association of Active and Retired Federal Employees.)
----------------------------------------------------
Contributed,
YNCS Don Harribine, USN(ret)