Storm Sweeps Away Health Insurance

[MountainLaurel]

200K people losing their health insurance. Once again, how dare we call ourselves a first-world country?

It took a hurricane for Trudy Robinson to realize how much she took health insurance for granted.

A teacher for 22 years, she had covered her family through a policy with the New Orleans school district. When she, her husband or her children got sick, Robinson didn't worry about the bills.

Earlier this month, that sense of security ended. Along with 7,500 other school district employees, Robinson learned she was losing her medical coverage and her job. Now she doesn't know how she'll pay for care.

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Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana estimates that 200,000 men, women and children in the state who had health insurance through the workplace will lose those benefits as financially stressed organizations terminate staff or go out of business altogether.

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Even before the hurricanes, 866,000 of Louisiana's 4.4 million residents were uninsured--a function, in part, of high poverty rates and lower than average rates of employer-sponsored coverage. Now, the situation is expected to worsen as employers cut costs in an effort to survive.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/health/chi-0512290203dec29,1,2928296.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

[rodeodance]

1. and it goes on and on-----and the news is about smelly lobbyists!

[dennisnyc]

2. this makes me sick! Can't rwingers even see the practical

and BUSINESS disadvantage that so many uninsured are! For godsake, to me it is inhuman, there is care available and some are not allowed access. But even from a business perspective, shouldn't they see that a healthy workforce, a less anxious workforce would do something to help america?

[sui generis]

3. they need a class action suit

and emergency petition to Cobra those particular policies regardless of whether the Cobra service period has been achieved.

That gives people the chance to continue paying their own coverage without losing the policy rather than everyone just throwing their hands in the air.

The insurance companies are pleased as punch - they just reduced their regional risk pool and loss payout to nothing for the premium period covered in Q4 without having to refund premiums.

They need to be held to the fire and if this administration had half a brain that is exactly what they would do - a congressional override on Cobra policy with conversion and portage for anyone who has lost their coverage.

[philb]

4. some think health insurence isn't very useful anyway, in many cases

is a waste of money. If insurence companies make money, and they do, more more is paid in than goes out.
But also I think its clear most of the money paid out goes for purposes that don't contribute much to condition
improvement.
And treatments(such as non-prescription supplements, detox,etc.) that are documented in the medical literature
and by lots of clinical cases to be effective arent' covered. Insurence money goes mainly to prescriptions and prescription pushers
(although such are documented to be the leading cause of hospitalizations and deaths) and to expensive surgical proceedures for conditions where other options are likely to be as effective or more so.

Catasropic coverage is another issue, and complicated, but likely better covered by a system different than what we have
or where many seem to be trying to go.