Friday, November 4, 2011

Health Care Premiums Still Soaring With No End in Sight...

"We don' need no stinkin' insurance!"
I just got a notification from my health care provider that it will raise my premium another $37 per month. The company just raised the premiums 3 months ago $10 per month. That means if I am to keep the insurance, it will now cost me $210 per month.

"What's that?" you may say. "That doesn't sound a lot for an insurance plan."   And you would be correct if it was a regular health insurance plan. This is my secondary insurance! I already pay plenty for my primary insurance, whose premium I am certain will also increase soon.

The reason I am told by the company is "due to the ongoing increased costs of health care."

Well, I have to say it really made me angry. I now pay a fortune for my health care costs and additional costs for my wife and kids. I'm at the point where I will have to cancel my secondary insurance and just keep the primary one, which only would cover 80 percent of doctor and hospital costs. That would make me responsible for any additional cost. I would not be able to pay the remaining medical bills. I will become just like so many American citizens and illegal immigrants who do not have health care plans and who do not pay for the health care services they receive from doctors and hospitals.

I filed a formal complaint today with the Office of the Texas Attorney General Consumer Protection Division, also one filed with the Texas Department of Insurance Consumer Protection Division, and then I sent copies to the Chair and Vice Chair of the House Committee on Insurance and then also copies to the Chair and Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services.

Obviously, the Legislature approves and sets the laws that govern health care providers; however, the laws suck for the majority of Texans. The laws state that providers must formally request and prove the need for a premium increase and it must be approved by the TDI. Apparently, the system in place is a big mess for Texans who need health coverage.

I suggest that you folks may want to write your House Reps. and Senators and the TDI to file a complaint regarding the inadequate laws that permit health care providers to continue getting the premium increases they request. They should not be permitted to get the increases by stating simply that "The premium increase is due to increases in the cost of providing health care services."

Leaving no stone unturned, I also sent a letter to President Obama. I told him that I thought his health care plan was to make coverage and premiums affordable for all Americans. I told him about what just happened to me and that his plan is screwed-up and I asked what if anything he is going to do about it.

Yeah, good luck with that one.

There is no doubt that if we let them all do what they are doing and what they want, none of us will be able to afford health care for ourselves and our children.


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