OPEN LETTER TO STEVEN S. MARTIN, CEO OF BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF NEBRASKA
Mr. Martin,
I’m writing to you today to express the shock and disappointment I received when I read the notice you sent me about the premium increase you will be imposing on my family starting Jan. 1, 2010. The notice states that my premium will jump from $400 a month to $585 a month. This represents a 46% increase over my 2009 premium. My question is: How can you possibly justify this? If any other business tried to do this they would immediately get dropped. Customers would mobilize and boycott your company. But since you are an insurance company, and people’s lives are at stake, you act with impunity because no one will call you out. Well, I’m calling you out. This is the very reason people are calling for health care reform. Insurance companies like Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska are looking to boost their bottom line, regardless of how it affects your customers. Your motive is profit. The health of my family is the least of your concerns.
My current policy covers very little in terms of health care expenses. We mainly keep this policy to cover any catastrophic illnesses that might put my family in financial risk. Yet even though this policy covers very little, we are spending close to 15% of our annual income on it. Now you’re asking us to increase our spend an additional 46%? For what? We hardly ever visit the doctor. When my wife or I get sick, we tough it out and try desperately to avoid an office visit. Why? Because when we visit the doctor it costs us 100% out of pocket. This is absurd. And if I do have to visit the doctor for something as mundane as strep throat, I’m left paying $120 for a visit that takes less than 5 minutes. Now, I know what the doctor charges is not your fault, but I hope it illustrates the position I’m in.
Which brings me to the reason why I have to pay you directly for my insurance. I am self-employed. I don’t have the benefit of an employer paying for my health insurance. My wife is self-employed as well. We work very hard to earn a living. Yet it seems the harder we work, the more we have to pay each year for insurance. And this year we hit our breaking point. There’s no way we can afford the increase you are imposing on us. We are forced to put our kids on state aid. Unfortunately, that’s the only option we have left. We will try to keep insurance for my wife and I, but the kids are our biggest concern and unfortunately we’re going to have to rely on the government for assistance. It’s the last thing we want to do, but you left us no choice. And maybe that’s what you had in mind. Perhaps my healthy family is too much of a liability for your profit machine and you want to force us out. Maybe you decided to raise your rates before Congress passes legislation preventing you from doing so. Whatever the case is, we are making drastic changes simply to survive financially.
You may not care what I think. But please pay a little bit of attention. Health care is ruining America. You’re part of the problem. Most of us are out here scrambling to figure out what to do. Perhaps if you hear from those of us who are struggling you might do something proactive to help this situation. My guess is that you’ll continue to figure out ways to increase your bottom line at the expense of people’s health. We want to pay our fair share, and as a business you need to make money. As a business owner I understand this, but what your company is doing is simply a travesty. I guarantee that my family is not the only one affected. I’m sure there are thousands of your customers facing the same predicament right this very minute.
So do something to fix this. Don’t sit back and say “It’s a cost of living issue and out of our hands.” That’s what you say every year. It’s funny though, the only thing that increased 46% over the last year is my health insurance premium. And in my family’s case, since all our doctor visits are paid for straight out or our pocket, you earned almost pure profit from us. We were good to your bottom line. Why don’t you return the favor and be good to my family’s bottom line?
I would love to discuss this in person if you would like. Feel free to send me an email and we’ll set up a time: matt@secretpenguin.com.
Sincerely,
Matt Helt
3:05 pm October 7, 2009
UPDATE: I received an email from Mr. Martin this afternoon that expresses his desire to speak with me about my concerns. I appreciate the effort and look forward to discussing my letter with him. After we talk, I’ll post an update and let you know what was said.
October 7th, 2009 at 8:39 am
Not to just be argumentative, as I completely agree that healthcare reform is important, but what do you have besides feelings to prove that the increase is pure-profit motivation? What does your income level have to do with there fees besides the false relationship of the percent increase you’re paying vs. what you earn? Insurance companies are definately part of the mix in this, but who else shares in why healthcare costs so much? If insurance companies went away, healthcare would still cost a ton. It does everywhere. I just think that the best arguments are those that don’t take circumstantial factors and display them as across-the-board truths and blanket assumptions that aren’t backed up by facts. You might earn $X but you still pay the same for McDonald’s as everyone else. With healthcare being private companies but lacking true and real competition, consumers are screwed. Regardless of employer contributions or individual income. Let workers buy their own, take it with them wherever they go, and open it up to true competition. Then you’ll see change. Or, kill all the insurance companies and make the government do it all. Workers don’t have any real choice when their company tells them what the benefits will be and how much it costs. There’s also no reason your healthcare should be dependent on having a job at a particular place.
October 7th, 2009 at 10:04 am
Hi TE!
Thanks for your comments. Why do I “feel” it’s pure-profit? Well, because insurance companies are in business to make a profit. I know medical costs have gone up, and that’s the big reason why the insurance companies are raising their rates, but they’re still making a profit. They also failed to give me a good answer as to why they chose to raise my rate that much, so I’m left to assume it’s their motivation for profit. How many companies do you know would get away with that kind of increase and not have their customers rise up in protest? Sorry that my “feelings” aren’t good enough of an argument for you. But I “feel” very upset that I have been priced out of health insurance by a company that exists to make a profit. I guess my “feelings” won’t matter much until everyone is in the same boat as me.
To put it in simple terms that you might understand, here’s my experience: My premium was hiked by 46%. I can’t afford it anymore. I’m now forced to go on state aid to make sure my children are cared for. I want more than anything to pay for them myself. But I can’t. I feel taken advantage of. I feel like I can’t do anything to fix this. That’s my experience.
Feel free to let me know what your experience is. Is your health insurance subsidized by your employer? (I saw where you work from your IP address. I hear they have really great benefits. You guys do great work.) If they don’t, well, how do you find affordable insurance? I’d love to hear about your experience.
October 7th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
BCBS Nebraska is a non profit Insurance company. You note how much the doctor charges you but blame BCBS for raising the rates for only profit. Do you not feel they should make a profit? I assume as a small business owner you dont give your product away but sell it for a fair price. I can understand that you don’t believe the price is fair and I certainly agree that seems high, but being upset for making a profit is a little lame. I believe BCBS has 1000 employees also struggling to make ends meet. I hope your meeting goes well. Good luck.
October 7th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
Hi Bill,
Thanks for your comments. I don’t believe that the price of health insurance should be so high that people can no longer afford it. That’s my main gripe. And without a proper explanation of why my premium jumped so high I’m left to assume it’s because of profit.
My goal when I talk with Mr. Martin tomorrow is to get an honest explanation as to why I saw the increase that I did. I would then like to discuss solutions and see what can be done to fix the overall problem. There are so many people struggling and I sincerely believe it doesn’t have to be this way. Nebraska has the potential to be the model for the rest of the country on how to fix this problem. But it’s going to take all of us to come to the table and discuss this in a civil way. I applaud Mr. Martin for taking me up on my offer to discuss this. I have hope that this will begin a dialogue that leads to real solutions.
October 7th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
Bill -
I actually don’t believe any profit should come from basic medical coverage. To me that is what has led to corruption and issues we are facing. When a persons basic health needs are turned into a commodity all that is looked at is bottom line.
Now BCBS is a non-profit, but lets face it they are still part of the problem. They constantly deny coverage and raise premiums to levels that average individuals can not afford ( employed or self-employed ) Most of the time you don’t get a choice on who to sign up with, especially if you have pre-existing conditions or its tied to an employer.
Other insurance companies are for profit and they are even worse. When companies like United Health Care (NYSE: UNH) are publicly traded companies, our health becomes a liability to investors. Investors are in the game for one reason only to make a profit ( not their fault just a fact. ) For profit insurance companies increase their profits when denying coverage, dropping coverage and avoiding payouts when people who have paid into the system need it the most. See the difference between Matt running a business is when someone agrees to pay him a fair price (set by the market ) he gives them something in return worth of equal value and is contractually bound by that. There is no free market in Insurance when 75% of a states market is controlled by the two largest companies.
On a personal note, I have been denied far more times by my insurance when I needed it the most, yet I continue to pay in and I am stuck with my for profit insurer because BCBS denied me coverage. So they are making 100% profit from my payments. How is it lame to be upset for a company making profit when they don’t live up to their end of the bargin.
From the Washington Post. “The United States is the only developed country that lets insurance companies profit from basic health coverage.”
Not saying others have it completely right, but if we are the only ones and our health is low on the scale for quality, maybe the idea of capitalism should not apply to a person right to be healthy.
October 8th, 2009 at 7:35 am
Yeah, Matt - our company pays for decent enough insurance. Plans got changed recently due to big increases from the last insurance company. And what choice do we have in that as employees? Zero. We were informed this would happen. Take it or leave it. That’s what I have a problem with. Our insurance plan has changed here often enough that its obvious their just trying to weasel around costs. And through it all, we don’t have a choice. We’re not consumers, we’re captives. That’s what the problem is. The “consumers” can’t rise up and revolt because who do we revolt against? Our boss? That’s who I pay my premium too, in essence. And I have no power to change any of that unless I quit and get another job. But the other places I worked never had anything much better. And why should I be out of insurance if I’m out of a job? If everybody was simply responsible for their own insurance and you could pick your provider it would be alot different. Then one person, like yourself, could maybe get your voice to be heard. But what does Blue Cross care if you’re pissed off when some big company has 1000 people on the list under their company’s policy? You might be pissed, and to them, its the loss of one customer. If Company 1000 was pissed and could leave and pick from 12 options instead of 2-3 maybe their would be something different.
October 8th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Matt,
I understand where your frustration comes from. We had BCBS in California before moving the company to Omaha and recently switched to an Health Savings Account. I am much happier now with what we offer our employees. We cover every employees premium and contribute $1,700 a year to their HSA account in hopes that they would have free health care. I agree with you that health insurance is very important and I do think that health care reform is important. I just wish that our elected officials would make the changes that are important to the individual like yourself. Someone that’s working hard and trying to provide for their family. I’m all for health care reform but I’m not for freebies or handouts. I hope at the very least they make it so there can be competition nationwide and not limited to just states. That way you can truly shop around and become much more empowered. Good luck Matt.
Tim