[Vision2020] UI Health Insurance

[Rosemary]

What is going on here?????  UI employees pay nearly three times as much for
health care insurance that is less beneficial than the plans offered by
other universities in Idaho?  How peculiar, how Boise Place.  
Rose Huskey


-----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
On Behalf Of Saundra Lund
Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 4:02 PM
To: 'Moscow Vision 2020'
Subject: [Vision2020] UI Health Insurance

Visionaries:

I know we've got a lot of folks who read V2020 but may never post, so I'm
hoping someone reading will be able to help me out.

I'm on a quest to understand why it costs UI employees with families
***nearly three times as much*** for basic PPO (the "preferred provider
organization" type of managed care) health insurance coverage as it costs
people who work for LCSC, BSU, and ISU. . . and their plan is a
significantly more robust plan.

I've spent quite a bit of time on this asking questions, reading meeting
minutes & benefits materials, looking at audits, and talking to faculty &
staff, and about the only thing that seems clear is that apparently the UI
doesn't want employees to understand.

So, if anyone reading this can shed any light on this huge inequity, please
feel free to respond onlist or off.  As always, if you'd rather contact me
offlist about this, your confidentiality will be absolutely honored.

As an aside, if anyone is interested in reading why market-based CDHC
(consumer-driven health care) models are doomed to fail, a great & freely
available read is Dr. Arnold S. Relman's "The Health of Nations."  While he
makes a strong (IMHO) case for a single-payer system for essential health
coverage, the historical background of how we got were we are is an
excellent read even for those who don't support a single-payer system.  You
can find his article (originally published in the March, 2005 issue of The
New Republic) available several places online -- here's one link:
http://www.pnhp.org/news/Health_Nations.pdf
Keep in mind that this was originally published in 2005, so the statistics
are even more grim now over four years later.


TIA,
Saundra Lund
Moscow, ID

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
nothing.
~ Edmund Burke

***** Original material contained herein is Copyright 2009 through life plus
70 years, Saundra Lund.  Do not copy, forward, excerpt, or reproduce outside
the Vision 2020 forum without the express written permission of the
author.*****





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