Archive for October, 2009
Open enrollment provides dose of reality on health costs
Big, heady discussions are unfolding on Capitol Hill over revamping the nation’s health care system, but smaller, personal debates are playing out in living rooms and workplaces across the land as many Americans go through the annual ritual of open enrollment.
Michelle Enriquez, a program analyst for the city of Sacramento, said Friday that she agonized over her confusing options to see if she could save money.
“I don’t have the option of not taking health insurance,” said Enriquez, a single mother with a daughter in college.
Next year, she estimates that her share of the premiums for medical, vision and dental will jump about $75 a month to $536, although she’s eligible for a monthly $200 credit that can be applied toward health-related paycheck deductions. “These premiums are outrageous,” she said.
The outrage over health care’s rising costs is shared across the country as Congress tackles overhaul legislation.
Nationwide, next year’s premiums are expected to rise by an average of 6 percent, according to Hewitt Associates, a human resources consulting firm in Lincolnshire, Ill., that tracks the yearly data.
Certainly, there is heated debate about whether the legislative changes being proposed would help contain costs.
Nevertheless, the open-enrollment ritual serves as a dose of reality, according to Anthony Wright, executive director of the advocacy group Health Access California.
“Having people go through open enrollment gives a boost to health care reform,” Wright said. “It’s a time when people start seeing the problems with the current system. Open enrollment is when they face the increases in the cost of health care and face the limits of what they have.”
In many cases, he said, folks face confusion over whether their health coverage is truly adequate to protect them against the financial stresses from medical bills.
Enriquez said she will have to cut back on other expenses to afford the premium increase.
“I suppose we should be grateful we have a job,” Enriquez said, “but at this rate, how can we continue to afford to live?”
It certainly could be worse. She could have no health insurance at all, or have to pay the entire cost of premiums herself.
The Kaiser Family Foundation this week estimated that 1.5 million working-age adults became uninsured in 2007 because they lost their jobs.
But for many of the 162 million people still covered by employer-based health insurance in the United States, important deadlines loom. Decisions made in these days of reckoning are crucial, because they usually can’t be undone until the next open enrollment period.
Year after year, health premiums continue to rise – more than doubling over the past decade.
Employers expect workers to carry more of the burden – forcing some employees into a quandary during open enrollment. Should they attempt to save money now and opt for a cheaper plan with higher deductibles and out-of-pocket costs, or should they spend more money for a comprehensive plan that offers more benefits?
Dawn Deason, a communications managers for BloodSource, a Northern California blood bank, hasn’t worried much about health insurance. She’s happy with the coverage she has and plans few changes. She’s sticking with her current coverage.
Her premiums, however, have gone up a third for virtually the same coverage. She’ll be paying $60 a month, which she calls a bargain for the coverage she gets.
The cost of providing Deason health coverage is heavily subsidized by BloodSource, which employs 550 people from Merced to the Oregon border.
For the past two years, the company has absorbed the increased cost of providing health insurance to its 550 employees, but BloodSource decided to pass on some of the increase next year, said Jennifer Griffith, the director of human resources. “Our employees are seeing a small increase and a few plan design changes, but the impact is relatively minimal.”
“All in all, we’re not thrilled about the increases, but at least it’s manageable,” Griffith said.
Recent studies, however, show an acceleration in the rising cost of premiums.
In 2009, the annual cost to provide health coverage for a typical family was $13,375, up from $5,791 a decade ago – an increase of 131 percent, according to the Kaiser foundation.
What’s more, employees are being expected to carry more of the load. The typical family will pay $3,515 this year in health premiums, a 128 percent increase over 10 years ago.
“This is really a signal that the problems of rising cost affect everybody, that the increasing cost of health care is not just a theoretical phenomena,” said Marge Ginsburg, executive director for the Center for Healthcare Decisions, a nonpartisan policy group based in Rancho Cordova.
“For those with health insurance, this is real,” Ginsburg said. “And I hope they’re making the connection.”
The connection, she said, is that rising premiums and other health care costs are at the heart of the debate in Washington.
“If there’s one consistent message we’ve been hearing about health care, it’s that it has to be affordable.”
Tell us your open-enrollment story
Open enrollment, that annual head-scratching ritual, is again upon many of us. We’d like to hear about the tough decisions you’ll have to make. Have your insurance premiums increased and benefits changed? Let The Bee health care writer Bobby Caina Calvan know what you’re going through. Reach him by phone at (916) 321-1067 or via e-mail at bcalvan@sacbee.com. Please include a phone number in your e-mail.
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Sacramento-area flu-shot strategy: Seek out seasonal; wait (mostly) on H1N1
Alexis Meron, a senior at Sacramento State, winces Wednesday as she gets a flu shot. The annual campus “Phlagleblast” festival set up an area nearby where nurses inoculated more than 200 students. Young adults are a high-priority group to receive swine flu vaccine.
If you’re considering getting the H1N1 flu shot, forget it for now, unless you are pregnant or have a very young child.
While you wait for the H1N1 shots to become more widely available later this fall, officials recommend you get the seasonal flu shot.
But there’s a hitch there, too: Supplies have nearly dried up.
There’s been a delay in getting both vaccines to the public. Manufactures have been slow in delivering more of the seasonal vaccine. And making the H1N1 doses took longer than anticipated; they’re only now trickling out to doctors so the most-vulnerable get vaccinated against what’s proving to be a risky flu for children and those with weakened immune systems.
It still possible to find the seasonal shots in the Sacramento area. But because the supply is managed privately and the distribution uneven, it may take a little work to find who’s delivering the vaccine.
Be sure to call ahead for an appointment, as the supply situation changes. Here’s a guide to finding a seasonal flu shot.
Call your health care provider first, as the shot is likely to be covered by insurance. Many doctors are reporting shortages, so you may end up looking elsewhere.
Sacramento County clinics
• A drive-through clinic today, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Sears at 5901 Florin Road, Sacramento. The cost is $10.
• Free shots will be offered at the Robertson Community Center next Thursday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at 3525 Norwood Ave., Sacramento.
• Free flu shots will be offered at the Pannell Center Thursday, Nov. 5, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at 2450 Meadowview Road, Sacramento.
Placer County clinics
There will be a $20 charge.
• Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Multipurpose Senior Center, 11577 E Ave., Auburn.
• Thursday, 9 a.m. to noon, at the Maidu Community Center, 1550 Maidu Drive, Roseville.
Other clinics
• Sutter VNA & Hospice is hosting a public clinic today, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Carmichael Honda dealership, 6151 Auburn Blvd., Citrus Heights.
• Sacramento International Airport’s clinics still have supplies. The clinics are open Monday through Friday, 7 to 11 a.m. and 2 to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 7 to 11 a.m.; and Sunday, noon to 6 p.m. Weekend hours are subject to change. Call (916) 446-4449.
Retailers
Retail clinics charge around $30.
• Rite Aid still has shots; call ahead for appointments.
• Safeway still has adequate supplies. Call ahead because some pharmacies administer vaccines only at certain times.
• Most Walgreen’s are out, and supplies will not be re-stocked.
• Raley’s, Wal-Mart and Costco report being out of the seasonal vaccine.