Just Curious - How Do Healthcare Insurance Companies Provide HC Insurance For Their Employees?.....

[global1]

Seems to me that the health insurers no all the angles about health insurance. What kind of HC insurance do they provide for their employees? Do their employees have the same coverage as their customers? Do the employees have to worry about the same issues as us common folk do that aren't employed by a healthcare insurance company? How do these companies handle the cost per employee issues that a GM, Chrysler or Ford has to? Do they give themselves a break in the cost? Why?

I know these sound like silly and inane type questions - but I'm thinking that these health insurers know how to game the system when it comes to taking care of their own. So I would just like to know how Blue Cross/Blue Shield and others provide health insurance for their own employees. I don't believe I ever heard anyone address this before.

[antigop]

1. Wanna bet they are SELF-INSURED?

This is the BEST argument for single-payer--all we need to do is look at large corporations to see how they provide health coverage. Most (all?) are self-insured-- they do it BECAUSE IT'S CHEAPER.

THIS IS THE ARGUMENT I HAVE TRIED TO TELL PEOPLE ON DU FOR A LONG TIME.

Look at corporate America -- it figured out long ago that SELF-INSURANCE was cheaper.

[HowHasItComeToThis]

4. "SELF-INSURED" WHAT A NOVEL IDEA

YOU MEAN NO MIDDLEMEN ???????????????

[antigop]

5. Exactly. n/t

[HowHasItComeToThis]

6. HOW UN-CAPITALIST.....

THE QUESTION IS ARE YOU A PRODUCER OR A PARASITE :mad: :puke:

[jmowreader]

7. Most? Maybe. All? No.

Home Depot used BCBS for healthcare, I don't remember who they used for dental, and we had Spectera for vision. And to be honest, I cannot imagine why vision coverage was even optional there. It was $6 per pay period. With the amount of dust and shit in the air in one of those stores, especially considering what was in some of that dust, vision coverage should be mandatory.

I don't think it would be less expensive to do health insurance as a self-insurance deal due to the complexity of the business. General liability or fire insurance? That's feasible on a self-insurance basis, but there are no networks involved in GL. (And for the record, Home Depot doesn't self-insure its GL either. When you inject customers and hazardous products into the mix, GL is as complex as healthcare.)

[antigop]

8. Did they use BCBS for claims processing only? Not underwriting?

I'll bet Home Depot paid healthcare expenses out of pocket.

Large corporations can use insurance companies for claims processing, but not underwriting.

<edit to add> I'll bet Home Depot did not use BCBS for underwriting.

[jmowreader]

10. I'll bet they did

Home Depot outsources a LOT of things--everything that is not in their core competencies, and some things that are. For instance, there is NO reason whatsoever they shouldn't have the tools and staff needed to repair racking, but racking repair is outsourced largely because it also outsources liability.

[antigop]

11. I'll bet they were self-insured and used BCBS for claims processing. See definition below. n/t

[antigop]

13. Please read the info on this website---says Home Depot is self-insured for some things

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BJK/is_5_18/ai_n27221124/pg_2

>>
The Home Depot Inc. The company is self-insured for certain losses
related to general liability, product liability,
automobile, workers' compensation and medical
claims.
<<

[NNN0LHI]

2. I have a son in-law who works for a health insurer

The employees there have Health Savings Accounts.

Don

[serrano2008]

3. I used to work at BCBS Kansas city...

and their benefits were the same as everyone else's.

I mean, everyone doesn't have the same benefits, but they are negotiated by BCBS the same way other companies have to negotiate for their benefits. There were companies that had way worse benefits than us and others that had way better benefits than us.

The only benefit to working for the insurance company, and I wasn't just lower level customer service, was that if I did have a problem with claims, like the provider was using an old insurance number or something, I could call someone to have it adjusted easier than having to call the same number as our customers and wait on hold for 45 minutes for someone who probably couldn't help me to begin with.

[antigop]

9. Self-insured: Health insurance definition

http://www.healthinsurancecontrol.com/self-insured-definition.php

Self-Insurance is becoming increasingly popular as employers seek ways to offer insurance benefits to workers. The rising cost of traditional health insurance prompted the creation of this alternative.

Basically, a person enrolled in a self-insurance program pays a set amount each month, just as if they were paying an insurance premium. Instead of paying that money to an insurance provider, the money is put into a pool. The money is then drawn out as needed to pay for the doctor’s visits, medicine and other covered expenses of the members. Usually, an administrative services only company or a third party administrator is hired to handle the paperwork.

As you can see, there must be a large participation for the program to work. The idea is that most people pay in more in premiums than they spend on claims - the same idea that makes an insurance company able to make a profit.

[Silver Swan]

12. My spouse

worked in IT for a health insurance company.

Employees had a choice of the plans the company provided. Employees paid part of the cost, which depended on the plan chosen. I don't have any of his old pay statements around to check what he had to pay, but the coverage was good.

The advantage was if there was a dispute about some service being covered or not, he could just go upstairs to argue his case!

[Joanne98]

14. They don't!