The federal government has been making such too-good-to-be-true offers for decades--the "Social Security" game dates all the way back to 1935--but such scams seem to be multiplying of late. An example appears on the White House website under the heading "Did You Get a Check?"As a matter of fact, I did get a check from my insurance company thanks to the new health care law.
"Because of the new health care law," the site explains, "insurance providers are now required to devote at least 80 percent of the premiums you pay to your health care--not to advertising, or administrative costs, or salaries for their CEOs. . . . Companies that aren't meeting the standard are actually providing rebates to their customers."
I burned it.
I didn't ask anyone to step in between me and the company I'd made an agreement with in good faith. They kept their part of the bargain, and I'm not about to fail to keep mine.
However, the next letter I got from my insurance company sadly explains that my premiums are about to go way up. I wonder what could possibly have raised the cost of insuring us so much? Perhaps all those new services they're required to offer me for free? Whatever it was, the check I got -- had I cashed it -- would not have begun to cover the difference in price.
The insurer invited me to continue to enjoy my current benefits for quite a bit more, or to move to one of their other plans if I prefer. They said they could afford to offer me a plan at a similar rate to the old plan if we raise the annual deductible by a thousand dollars.
I imagine that, should I accept this invitation, in a couple of years that option will be gone as well. Such high-deductible plans won't meet the required standards, and I'd be fined if I accepted the offer.
Thanks for the check, though.
8 comments:
Heh :)
I got one of those notices, from my "Cadillac" health plan, saying that I wasn't going to get a check b/c they passed the 80% test.
You've got to wonder how much money they spent to send me not one but TWO letters saying I wasn't due a check.
Morons*.
*And by that I meant the federal government, not my insurer.
Heh, my insurance jumped by several hundred dollars per quarter as soon as the maternity exemption became illegal. So even those of us who do not need or want birth control, prenatal, and other related coverage have to pay for it. Thanks for nothing, feds.
LittleRed1
I'm just wondering what is going to happen when the next plan year starts for the company for whom I work... That happens at the beginning of the year, IIRC. Same time as Taxmeggedon...
I fully expect my employer to switch plans. So much for keeping your current plan if you like it.
I've already upped my savings in anticipation.
We too received letters stating our insurance company had complied with the law, hence no refund.
I only wish the gub'ment would be so diligent in complying with the law.
And I think to myself...
But then I snap out it...
I work for a health insurance company, and we didn't get a check, because self-insured plans don't qualify.
Well, that's no surprise. 'Working for the enemy,' and all that.
We've had the requirement that plans include all sorts of stuff you might not need in California for some time- making plans much more expensive here. So, you can see where it's all headed as we circle the drain out West.
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