An state official shared that his individual health plan through the G.I.C. (Group Insurance Commission – http://www.mass.gov/…) for state employees costs $320. Hmmmm. How about we say thanks, no thanks to the health plans, and open up the doors to anyone in the Commonwealth to join. As Jon Kingsdale pointed out at one Connector meeting, the GIC has greater leverage negotiating better prices than Commonwealth Choice ever will.
Just a reminder to pick up our heads, as we plow into the affordabilty battles.
Please share widely!
Makes sense and has been talked about here at BMG recently as well as with Grace Ross and with various coalitions across the state that are focusing on the cost control affordability challenge before us.
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Another parallel option of allowing folks to buy into the Commonwealth Care plan (that is state subsidized for folks at 300% FPL and below) is being explored as a way to streamline this reform process and to reduce the fragmented bureacracy and waste that is bankrupting us all at present.
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Please post again with any updates, Michael, and I’ll do the same.
I think this makes MORE sense then trying to reinvent the wheel with so-called “health insurance” that is only a sucker bet for catastrophic coverage.
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Further, there are large numbers of so-called “contract employees” who are called indepedent contractors but receive their only payments from the Commonwealth. Examples are daycare providers, home health care workers, and court-appointed attorneys 9bar advocates so called). Of the bar advocates, a recent survey showed over 30% with no health insurance – the personal care assistants, home health care workers, and day care providers, if surveyed, would I expect be worse off than bar advocates, but yet provide public service paid for by our state.
instead of trying to skin the whole cat at once, perhaps expand the G.I.C. to those making $10,000 or more (or some other number) from the state. This way, you expand the program a little bit, go through the growing pains, and then look at how it can be expanded more.
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As a side note, expanding the program should be good for the current G.I.C. members — a bigger base means more bargaining leverage, and a larger network should lead to more choices for all G.I.C. members.
I would suggest expanding the above to all contractors with agencies/organizations/businesses that provide state services without a threshold on the earnings. Especially to the occupations listed by AmberPaw. It is time to provide good insurance to underpaid, working people who serve the poor, disabled and disenfranchised.
…as opposed to the actual cost of the plan.
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Tell them to find out what their COBRA would cost – THAT is the true cost. Since state employee contribution rate is 15%, you can do the math yourself.
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This is the same mentality that believes that doctor’s office visits REALLY cost $10!
Let’s find out how much of a subsidy is required from the state, and then finance the total with a payroll healthcare tax (which, like FICA, could be split between employer and employee).
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As more people move into this lower-cost option, there would be even more economies of scale, allowing better coverage, and/or lowering (true) costs per person.
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As the payroll tax increased, employers would have incentive to stop offering their own plans and simply pay via the tax to have their employees covered. Hey, before you know it, we won’t need insurance companies anymore, and voila! single-payer has arrived.
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As I hope my readers can tell, I offer this comment slightly tongue-in-cheek, since it is not based on any knowledge or analysis of how much this sort of thing would cost. My intent, however, is to stimulate thinking about how we can move to single-payer, which is clearly the most efficient delivery system. Encouraging more additions to the patchwork quilt we already have is moving in the wrong direction, imho.
…of eliminating employers from health care altogether.
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Why should you have to change health insurance when you change jobs? why should you be limited to what plan/s your employer chooses to offer? Indeed, as the popularity of self-insurance plans soars with employers, why should you have to settle for insurance which eliminates mandated coverages?
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The marriage between health insurance and employment was a shotgun one, with FDR holding the gun in the form of wage and price controls during WWII. It’s outlived its usefulness – let’s allow people to purchase the coverage they want, not what their employer offers.
This person I spoke with is VERY knowledgeable and he knew both his % payment which is only 10 or 15% – state employee from several years ago got grandfathered in at those rates. So the $320 is REALLY the combination of his payment and the state’s share.
If he was grandfathered at 10% and worked years ago, then the $320 may be for a Medicare supplement – not full health insurance.
In 2005 rates for individual coverage from GIC plans ranged from $275/month (fallon) to $537/mn for the indemnity plan.
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It does make a lot of sense to expand access to the GIC for different types of government funded employers: cities and towns, counties, and state funded contractors whose entire existance depends on contracts with the state. For example, there are at least 60,000 human service workers, who work at 500 different companies that get 90-100% of their funding from the state. Does it make fiscal sense for each company (ranging in size from 50 to 1000 employees) to bargain with health insurers seperately.
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The Mass. Human Service Providers Council (the trade association for the human service companies) estimates that half of their employees have no insurance. What happens when these employees show up on july 1 and sign on to their employers plans? There is no money to pay for them.
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If human service providers and municipalities were in the GIC, the GIC would have even more bargainig power with health providers and insurers.
Gubmint doesn’t want state workers to worry their pretty heads over how much the plan REALLY costs!
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Heck – if Fallon’s full price was $275/mo, I’d MOVE to WORCESTER!
$378 per month for individual w/ no cap; $10 copay; $50 ER copay; Drug copay of $5/$10 depending on class of drug
Actual Numbers 2006
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GIC Harvard Pilgrim Independence Family Plan
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$1,089.02 per month total
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$ 925.67 taxpayers pay each month
$ 163.35 employee pays each month
GROUP INSURANCE COMMISSION The Group Insurance Commission (GIC) is a quasi-independent state agency which was established by the Legislature in 1955 to deliver high quality care at a reasonable cost, and to provide and administer health insurance and other benefits to the Commonwealth’s employees and retirees, and their dependents and survivors. The GIC also covers housing and redevelopment authorities’ personnel, retired municipal employees, and teachers in certain governmental units. In FY2007, the budget appropriation for the GIC was $1,066.6 billion. There are approximately 267,300 people enrolled in GIC plans. http://www.mass.gov/gic/ The GIC offers enrollees a choice of coverage from a number of health insurance carriers. The eligible state employee pays a fixed premium amount, which is automatically deducted from the employee’s biweekly paycheck. The GIC costs are a fixed rate for each employee. The rate does not increase with the age of the employee, unlike commercial insurance plans. A table is available on the GIC website which shows the plans available, cost to the employee for individual or family coverage, and the full cost premium. [GIC Table http://www.mass.gov/gic/annualenroll2006/Chart1.pdf%5D
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The “full costs” for GIC is lower than many plans, but more comprehensive and granting access to cities and towns on a revenue neutral basis [that is the town contribution plus the employee contribution is 100% of the actual GIC cost] should mean that there is better bang for the buck for the “independent contractors” cities and towns, but at no cost to the Commonwealth.
The $320 is for an individual. Of course family plans are more expensive.