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Back in the early 90s, I went to work for a company so small that there were only two full-time employees: my boss and me. So the "company health care" boiled down to my boss telling me "buy a solo policy and I'll pay for it."
Back then, there was a pretty decent choice in self-held insurance; I picked a basic plan offered by one of the teaching hospitals (it worked a bit like an HMO, in that you got a major discount if you let the students poke at you) and it cost, IIRC, ~$40 a month. It wasn't hugely comprehensive, but it covered all I needed, including worldwide emergency treatment. (I've always loved to travel.)
Because *I* owned that policy in my name, I kept it for 7 glorious years. Without having to worry about continuous health care coverage I was able to go back to school, take tiny temp jobs while retraining my skills at school - even negotiate for better pay when I went back into the world as a technical writer for contracting companies. (I proved to HR that I had coverage; they added to my paycheck what they would have paid an insurance company for me under their plan. It was always more than I was paying out.)
Seven years of not having to refile paperwork. Of having the same team of General Practitioner/Gyno no matter where I worked. Of knowing I had the right paperwork and the right insurance card. Seven wonderful years of not worrying about COBRA or gaps between leaving one job and starting another. Of not turning down work that sounded good or educational because I needed better benefits.
And probably because such solo policies weren't as lucrative as billing employers, such solo policies went out of fashion. I think only one insurance company offers them now - so much for choice of coverage - and it costs hundreds a month. I got a note saying I had two months before my beloved policy went belly-up.
So I went onto work coverage. I'm a contractor - not the kind who works on buildings, the kind who is offered up as a set of employees for a set amount of time to another company on contract. The work is interesting, but it's a truism that you'll bounce from contract to contract and finally bounce out of the company looking for greener pastures.
Now, my current company (all hail my current company!) treats us magnificently, including regarding insurance. We've got a choice of policies and they cover the tab.
But in the four years I worked for the previous two companies, I had four health plans.
Repeat: Two companies. Four health plans.
They always want to find the better deal for themselves, so if the company switches insurance - and they can once a year, so they will once a year - you'd just better hope that if you have a doctor you like, they're on the plan. (Or that the doctors don't get pissed off and do the "Fuck insurance: gimme $2000 up front and I'll give you these services" plan.) You'd also better hope that your co-pay and your paycheck deductibles don't change too drastically, because if you're single, you're stuck. You've got to have whatever your employer does or go without or take your non-choice one option.
Wanna know a little secret? Want to know why I didn't call for a badly-needed ambulance at ChicagoTARDIS, because I really was THAT sick? Not only wasn't I entirely sure that the new company's health insurance had started to cover me yet or if the old policy would still cover me, I wasn't sure for *months* if I was carrying the right insurance card. I have enough of those dang things to play poker with.
The health bill is going to mandate that people can buy their own insurance, which means it mandates that they can buy their own insurance directly. And the free market being what it is, that means the first company to go back to offering reasonably priced, reasonably comprehensive solo plans is going to become rich beyond its wildest dreams of avarice.
I've lived "you have to buy your own health insurance." I was even unemployed during that time to go back to school. I loved that policy and I miss it more than tongue can tell. Personally paid health insurance was fabulous!
Back then, there was a pretty decent choice in self-held insurance; I picked a basic plan offered by one of the teaching hospitals (it worked a bit like an HMO, in that you got a major discount if you let the students poke at you) and it cost, IIRC, ~$40 a month. It wasn't hugely comprehensive, but it covered all I needed, including worldwide emergency treatment. (I've always loved to travel.)
Because *I* owned that policy in my name, I kept it for 7 glorious years. Without having to worry about continuous health care coverage I was able to go back to school, take tiny temp jobs while retraining my skills at school - even negotiate for better pay when I went back into the world as a technical writer for contracting companies. (I proved to HR that I had coverage; they added to my paycheck what they would have paid an insurance company for me under their plan. It was always more than I was paying out.)
Seven years of not having to refile paperwork. Of having the same team of General Practitioner/Gyno no matter where I worked. Of knowing I had the right paperwork and the right insurance card. Seven wonderful years of not worrying about COBRA or gaps between leaving one job and starting another. Of not turning down work that sounded good or educational because I needed better benefits.
And probably because such solo policies weren't as lucrative as billing employers, such solo policies went out of fashion. I think only one insurance company offers them now - so much for choice of coverage - and it costs hundreds a month. I got a note saying I had two months before my beloved policy went belly-up.
So I went onto work coverage. I'm a contractor - not the kind who works on buildings, the kind who is offered up as a set of employees for a set amount of time to another company on contract. The work is interesting, but it's a truism that you'll bounce from contract to contract and finally bounce out of the company looking for greener pastures.
Now, my current company (all hail my current company!) treats us magnificently, including regarding insurance. We've got a choice of policies and they cover the tab.
But in the four years I worked for the previous two companies, I had four health plans.
Repeat: Two companies. Four health plans.
They always want to find the better deal for themselves, so if the company switches insurance - and they can once a year, so they will once a year - you'd just better hope that if you have a doctor you like, they're on the plan. (Or that the doctors don't get pissed off and do the "Fuck insurance: gimme $2000 up front and I'll give you these services" plan.) You'd also better hope that your co-pay and your paycheck deductibles don't change too drastically, because if you're single, you're stuck. You've got to have whatever your employer does or go without or take your non-choice one option.
Wanna know a little secret? Want to know why I didn't call for a badly-needed ambulance at ChicagoTARDIS, because I really was THAT sick? Not only wasn't I entirely sure that the new company's health insurance had started to cover me yet or if the old policy would still cover me, I wasn't sure for *months* if I was carrying the right insurance card. I have enough of those dang things to play poker with.
The health bill is going to mandate that people can buy their own insurance, which means it mandates that they can buy their own insurance directly. And the free market being what it is, that means the first company to go back to offering reasonably priced, reasonably comprehensive solo plans is going to become rich beyond its wildest dreams of avarice.
I've lived "you have to buy your own health insurance." I was even unemployed during that time to go back to school. I loved that policy and I miss it more than tongue can tell. Personally paid health insurance was fabulous!
