Small business owners feeling the squeeze from R.I.’s insurers

To the editor,
As a small business owner and consumer, I am appalled at the idea that the only two games in town, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island and UnitedHealthcare of New England, are getting away with their business practices and we all stand by and let it happen.
My renewal was March 1 and of course my rates skyrocketed. This is due to the fact that I hit another age tier bracket, or so their excuse goes. I opted for the highest deductible plan in order to keep my cost down and low and behold, Blue Cross is “entitled” to raise the rate further (another 22 percent) after the quoted price goes to medical underwriting. No reason, no justification, just because the law allows it.
My medical condition has not changed in more than five years but my rates do not reflect that. I will be forced to pay for myself and my husband, including premiums and deductibles, in excess of $17,000.00 in 2008 before Blue Cross pays $1.00 in medical care for either of us. Isn’t this thievery? How are we supposed to keep our heads above water?
If I choose to opt out and become one of the many uninsured, then I risk everything I worked for over the years (such as my home) should one of us get sick and become hospitalized. You see, because we can’t work the system, we would be on the “hook” to pay for the “free” medical care we received, at whatever cost the doctors, hospitals etc. deem fit to charge for those services.
Where is the outcry? Where are the other business owners who also face the same dilemma? Where are our trusted congressmen and senators who were so eager for our votes when they pledged to help us?
I think it is time the masses joined forces and began to do something about the outrageous practices of these health insurers. Have they no soul? It appears not. There are NO other health insurers licensed to sell health insurance in this lovely state of ours. Trust me, I explored every avenue possible and came up empty. Blue Cross and United Healthcare use certain guidelines to obtain rates. What are they? Do we know? I want justification on this and I think all citizens in Rhode Island should demand answers on these unfair practices.
I will continue to write, call, scream, whatever it takes to get my answers and will not sit idly by and let them rob me of my peace of mind and my money. I work darn hard to earn a living. I do not feel that I am entitled to anything unless I earn it. Why should I give so much of my hard-earned money to thieves and get nothing in return?
Insurers trust in that the law-abiding citizen will continue to pay, because that’s just the way it is. But their fees are exorbitant to say the least.
It is true that the uninsured keep driving our rates up. But I may soon become one of them, through no choice of my own. My new plan will force me and my husband to neglect medical care, avoid testing and stop taking medications because there is no more extra money after Blue Cross gets its premium payments. What a wonderful place to be. Isn’t there someone out there who cares about this and can help me and others get justice in this matter? Where are you?
Ann S. Borges
President
The Scorekeepers Inc.
East Providence

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1 COMMENT

  1. I am as outraged as you. I am a also a small business owner and hesitate to have certain tests in fear that my health profile will change and force my rates up. I will help anyway that I can. It’s for the good of all of us.

    Mary Herden, President
    Figures & Numbers Inc.
    Barrington, RI