We purchase our health insurance through the local Chamber of Commerce because we don’t have insurance through any workplace and individual policies are exorbitant for our age group. The first policy we had was a PPO, which was expensive but gave us the freedom and coverage that we wanted. Then a little over a year later, they upped our premium to over $1600 per month AND said that they were charging us retroactively to the beginning of our coverage because they made an accounting error. Despite the ensuing phone call fights, we ended up switching to an HMO with lesser coverage, higher copays, and paying the ass wipes the difference their error cost us.

Last year, as punishment to the country for even debating health care, our HMO upped our premiums by something like 25% and now we are paying over $800 per month for lousy coverage. Every claim, no matter how minor, no matter how necessary, is challenged on some level. We fight for every dime of coverage even though we have paid them far more in premiums than they have paid out in claims because we are healthy people. But, that’s the game we are paying through the nose to play.

Today, we received a letter from the Chamber of Commerce’s broker, USI (dunno what that stands for). IBC (Independence Blue Cross (tada)) has decided to halt coverage for all sole proprietors and other 1099 contractors (which is what we are). Now, the broker claims that existing customers will not lose their insurance, but that no new contractors will be insured. They are also going to assess a 2.75% fee on top of our monthly premiums because…well, I guess because they had to write that letter telling us how sorry they were that IBC would no longer cover contractors. They magnanimously offered to check for the best deal in health insurance for free if we decide we’d like to not be hung out to dry by IBC. But of course, if we switch we can never ever ever go back to IBC because, after all, we are obviously deadbeats working our butts off for ourselves and our money just ain’t good enough for them.

bah.
gonna find me a good voodoo doctor and buy me a powerful juju.