Retirees irate over jumps in premium costs Retired state employees are howling about skyrocketing health-insurance costs. The current state budget had no premium increases for active employees, who got a one-time "bonus" of $1,000 (actually, about $675 after taxes) instead of a pay raise. But thousands of retirees felt a sort of sticker shock when they saw their first direct-deposit slips of the new year. "I received my Statement of Retirement Benefit Payments and found that my health-insurance premiums have increased 30.98 percent, from $358.84 to $470 for family coverage," retiree Jim Roberts said. "I had already received notice that the Medicare Part B premium had increased from $66.60 to $78.20, a more modest 17.4 percent." Roberts, a member of Capital Health Plan, said he hadn't kept up on changes in pension and insurance plans since retiring two and a half years ago. Department of Management Services figures indicate that CHP had the biggest premium increase for Leon County retirees in his Medicare class. …show more content…
In phone calls and angry letters to the Tallahassee Democrat and their legislators, many retirees mistakenly assumed that the jump in premiums was another mistake in the privatization of state personnel systems. And unlike almost all active employees, who fear losing their jobs if they speak out, retirees are not afraid to put their complaints on the record. But this time, it's not People
...and his vision in successfully transforming the medical center to a tertiary care facility. However, in 2008 under Ron Henderson, the medical center expenses began to skyrocket and revenues failed to keep up. Also, a hospital census indicated that, on average, Medicare patients consisted of 58% and Medicaid patients consisted of 18% which caused the medical center to suffer from reductions in reimbursements. Although noted by solid evidence that utilization was experiencing a steep decline, Mr. Henderson added 127 new positions to the medical center. In 2009, Mr. Henderson was fired after the board of trustees realized that this financial bind of an $8.6 million deficit was caused by Mr. Henderson. In order for the new CEO, Richard Reynolds, to succeed at his new job title, he must create a benchmarking process adopting certain goals to remain a worthy competitor.
Membership Services (MSD) at Kaiser Permanente used to be a modest department of sixty staff. However, over the past few years the department has doubled in size, creating minor departmental reorganization. In addition the increase of departmental staffing, several challenges became apparent. The changes included primary job function, as well as the introduction of new network system software which slowed down the processes of other departments. These departments included Claims (who pay the bills for service providers outside of the Kaiser Permanente network), and Patient Business Services (who send invoices to members for services received within Kaiser Permanente). Due to the unforeseen challenges created by the system upgrade, it was decided that MSD would process the calls for both of the affected departments. Unfortunately, this created a catastrophic event of MSD receiving numerous phone calls from upset members—who had received bills a year after the service had been provided. The average Monday call volume had risen from 1,800 to 2,600 calls per day. The average handling time for each phone call had risen as well—from an acceptable standard of 5.6 minutes to an unfavorable 7.2 minutes. The department continued to be kept inundated with these types of calls for the two years that these changes have been effect.
The push for Congress to pass legislation protecting the rights of employees and their retirement was inevitable. Retirement plans are extremely important for all working individuals. Having funds to keep or exceed ones current standard of living and to enjoy one’s life beyond expectations after retire...
Throughout the 20th century governmental responsibility has made remarkable progress. One major milestone of the widening of the responsibility of the federal government was it’s making an obligation to care for the elderly and retired in the form of social security. In 1935, the Social Security Act was enacted by the federal government to provide financial security to the elderly, retired citizens in America. Although the federal government first took on this responsibility in 1935, it is still affecting our lives today. However, social security would not have advanced this far without many organizations and individual reformers to begin and improve social security throughout history.
When one examines managed health care and the hospitals that provide the care, a degree of variation is found in the treatment and care of their patients. This variation can be between hospitals or even between physicians within a health care network. For managed care companies the variation may be beneficial. This may provide them with opportunities to save money when it comes to paying for their policy holder’s care, however this large variation may also be detrimental to the insurance company. This would fall into the category of management of utilization, if hospitals and managed care organizations can control treatment utilization, they can control premium costs for both themselves and their customers (Rodwin 1996). If health care organizations can implement prevention as a way to warrant good health with their consumers, insurance companies can also illuminate unnecessary health care. These are just a few examples of how the health care industry can help benefit their patients, but that does not mean every issue involving physician over utilization or quality of care is erased because there is a management mechanism set in place.
...ts to cover their mistakes. This is the exact opposite of what the country needs. Why should costs go up because of denied treatment? The big concern is whether or not government really understands the great difficulty in trying to control HMO’s and other health care programs without a nationalized program. Since there are some 6 million people using Medicare in HMO’s something needs to be done to ensure these patients the treatment that they need.
Recent budget controversy in Congress and the media has once again brought to the forefront the pressing desire for fiscal responsibility in the United States Government. Although Congress came to a compromise over the budget in the proverbial eleventh hour, the extra attention afforded to the budget issue has reignited a lingering controversy: is the current system of transfer payment programs a financially viable one, or should these programs be recognized as an economic burden? As new waves of retirees stream into the system, it has once more become necessary to consider whether or not the U.S. Government can truly afford to keep the implicit promises it has made, and if the next generation to reach retirement age will see the benefits that it pays for current claimants to enjoy.
(ObamaCare: Pros and Cons of ObamaCare). With all the new mandates under the Affordable Care Act the state average for insurance premium increase is about 10.5% which is about another $1,294. For some people this can be a lot of money for health insurance benefits that they may not even use but are mandated as a part of the Affordable Care Act (Pipes). The premiums sky rocketed after the Affordable Care Act was put into effect in 2011 compared to the trend in the few years before (Appendix Figure
Such rising health care costs penalize the citizens within our nation in multiple aspects. The first set of individuals that are affected are families and seniors because it affects the amount of money that goes into their pockets, which results in a difficult time balancing food, rent, and the basic necessities for living. Next, small businesses and fortune 500 employers are affected because such increased costs cause rising health care costs to become more expensive to add new employees to their payroll and more difficult to cover retiree fees when that time comes. Finally, the federal, state, and local governments are forced to increase Medicare and Medicaid costs, which results in cutting other priority funding such as public safety and education.
What Seems To Be The Problem? A discussion of the current problems in the U.S. healthcare system.
On December 8, 2003, President Bush signed into law the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (Pub. L. 108-173). This landmark legislation provides seniors and individuals with disabilities with a prescription drug benefit, more choices, and better benefits under Medicare. It produced the largest overhaul of Medicare in the public health program's 38-year history. The MMA was signed by President George W. Bush on December 8, 2003, after passing in Congress by a close margin. One month later, the ten-year cost estimate was boosted to $534 billion, up more than $100 billion over the figure presented by the Bush administration during Congressional debate. The inaccurate figure helped secure support from fiscally conservative Republicans. It was reported that an administration official, Thomas A. Scully, had concealed the higher estimate and threatened to fire Medicare Chief Actuary Richard Foster if he revealed it. By early 2005, the White House Budget had increased the 10-year estimate to $1.2 trillion.
"Social Security Should Be Run by the Government" by Institute for America's Future.Capitalism. Noël Merino, Ed. Current Controversies Series. Greenhaven Press, 2010. Institute for America's Future, The Perils of Privatization: Social Security Privatization Cuts Lifetime Benefits; Makes Senior Citizens Vulnerable to Poverty: The Impact in the United States. Washington, D.C.: Institute for America's Future, 2008. Reproduced by permission. .
The two major components of Medicare, the Hospital Insurance Program (Part A of Medicare) and the supplementary Medical Insurance program (Part B) may be exhausted by the year 2025, another sad fact of the Medicare situation at hand (“Medicare’s Future”). The burden brought about by the unfair dealings of HMO’s is having an adverse affect on the Medicare system. With the incredibly large burden brought about by the large amount of patients that Medicare is handed, it is becoming increasingly difficult to fund the system in the way that is necessary for it to function effectively. Most elderly people over the age of 65 are eligible for Medicare, but for a quite disturbing reason they are not able to reap the benefits of the taxes they have paid. Medicare is a national health plan covering 40 mi...
H J Aaron and R D Reischauer, The Medicare reform debate: what is the next step?, Health Affairs, 14, no.4 (1995):8-30,
Health insurance is very important in life. It is for this reason that insurance companies have designed different types of insurance as a strategy to provide services to all categories of people. Before purchasing insurance for an organization, there are considerations that should be put in place in deciding the best insurance for the employees. One of the most important factors is the number of employees. The mode of employment also matters, such as whether employees are full time or part time.