WSJ: NC Mental Health Parity to be 'enacted' 7.1.2009: no commemoration but rather weeping would be in order

Dear Mr. Rosomer, reporter for the Winston Salem Journal:

My BCBSNC policy that my healthy 3 member family has for which we pay $750/ month w/ large deductibles and minimal preventive care (no available screening colonoscopies for those over 50---yes, Medicare does this; no mammograms---yes, Medicare does this) pays only 50% for any mental health care.

The administrative costs for BCBSNC are over 15%. The administrative costs for Medicare are about 2-3%.

I therefore believe that your information is erroneous and would be grateful if you would investigate this matter.

Much information on BCBSNC can be found at my blog which I have steadily maintained for the past couple of years (http://madame-defarge.blogspot.com/); there are two blogs: one associated w/ NC Mental Health Reform and the other as associated w/ scrutinizing BCBSNC.

You stated, Mr. Rosomer:

"Published: July 1, 2008

July 7, 2009RE: Commeration of a Bittersweet Victory in NC: http://oneinfour.wordpress.com/2009/07/06/bittersweet-victory-in-nc/

RALEIGH

"Starting today, insurance companies in North Carolina must provide the same level of coverage for some mental illnesses that they do for physical ailments.....

“There are costs, obviously, associated with this mandate, but we’re anticipating it to be less than half of 1 percent,” said Lew Borman, a spokesman for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina."
******************************
I do not understand why you are using BCBSNC to indicate cost matters for they are not required to pay attention to mental health parity. In order (I am told) for NC State Representative Martha Alexander and those assisting her, to drive through mental health parity, a 'deal' was struck w/ BCBSNC.

You can look at these Madame Defarge II posts re: that matter:

Item 1:

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

http://madame-defarge.blogspot.com/2009/04/no-mental-health-parity-in-nc-bcbsnc.html

NO Mental Health Parity in NC : BCBSNC makes their own rules (and you'll like it or just shut up, Rep Martha Alexander)

Fitzsimon FileThe special interest health planhttp://www.ncpolicywatch.com/cms/2009/04/08/the-special-interest-health-plan/Wednesday, April 8th, 2009

******************
Item 2:

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

WaPo: NOW we know why BCBSNC was stockpiling all that money: THEY'RE TRYING TO KILL ACCESS TO PUBLIC HEALTH INSURANCE

*****************************************
I would also like to bring your attention to this recent NYT article indicating that the 'fine print' in the private insurance policies continues to drive people into health-related bankruptcy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/01/business/01meddebt.html

****************************************
BCBSNC was allowed by the NC State Legislature to opt out of mental health parity. Over 75% of people who are insured in NC (not including Medicare/ Medicaid) are insured by BCBSNC.

Therefore, there is no bittersweet commemoration but simply failure. We will not get anywhere until there is a public option re: health insurance. THAT and that alone will put the private health insurance companies on notice.

REMEMBER: when one is utilizing a capitalist model, COMPETITION is HEALTHY! (Or did the politicians, Dem and Republican alike, forget that tenet, as they looked simply at the bottom line and watched out for their own profits, much as Senator Kay Hagan is doing in her key position on the HELP Senate Committee which allows the public option matter to go forward---or not?)

Marsha V. Hammond, PhD

Private Health Insurance Companies are dumping the sick who must file for bankruptcy: SADISTIC LIMITED BENEFITS PLANS

I think we can pretty much conclude that this country is too far down the drain to recoup. The powers that be associated w/ the private insurance companies are going to drown us in the bathtub with most everyone looking on and seeing what is happening and there will simply be a stunned sense of 'there was nothing we could do.'

Just because you have health insurance doesn't mean you cannot go bankrupt depending on the DETAILS & FINE PRINT of your PRIVATE health insurance.

There is no better reason than this for the public option. Give it to us, or we'll die.

NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/01/business/01meddebt.html

Insured, but Bankrupted by Health Crises

Last week, a former Cigna executive warned at a Senate hearing on health insurance that lawmakers should be careful about the role they gave private insurers in any new system, saying the companies were too prone to confuse their customers and dump the sick.

The number of uninsured people has increased as more have fallen victim to deceptive marketing practices and bought what essentially is fake insurance, Wendell Potter, the former Cigna executive, testified.

Mr. Yurdin learned the hard way.

At St. David's Medical Center in Austin, where he went for two separate heart procedures last year, the hospital's admitting office looked at Mr. Yurdin's coverage and talked to Aetna.

St. David's estimated that his share of the payments would be only a few thousand dollars per procedure.

He and the hospital say they were surprised to eventually learn that the $150,000 hospital coverage in the Aetna policy was mainly for room and board. Coverage was capped at $10,000 for other hospital services, which turned out to include nearly all routine hospital care the expenses incurred in the operating room, for example, and the cost of any medication he received.

In other words, Aetna would have paid for Mr. Yurdin to stay in the hospital for more than five months as long as he did not need an operation or any lab tests or drugs while he was there.

Aetna contends that it repeatedly informed Mr. Yurdin and the hospital of the restrictions in policy, which is known in the industry as a limited-benefit plan.

The company says such policies offer value by covering some hospital expenses, like surgeons' fees or a stay in the intensive care unit. Aetna also says all of its policyholders receive significant discounts on the overall cost of hospital care. But Aetna also acknowledges that a limited-benefit plan was inappropriate in Mr. Yurdin's case because his age and condition an irregular heartbeat made him likely to require more comprehensive coverage....."

CDC Health Insurance statistics across the US for 2009

So, basically, we've got approximately 40% of the American population uninsured during possible critical times (accidents happen!) with BCBSNC being supported by Senator Kay Hagan of NC in her key position on the HELP committee of the US Senate with an absent Ted Kennedy (cancer happens!). Any Congressperson who understands this---and they all do-----should be voted out next time around re: these statistics whether they be Democrat or Republican.

**************************************

The CDC National Center for Health Statistics report has been released: "Health Insurance Coverage: Early Release of Estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, 2009."
Cohen RA, Martinez ME. Health insurance coverage: Early release of estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, 2008. National Center for Health Statistics. June 2009. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis.htm
At: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr017.pdf

Highlights

v In 2008, 43.8 million persons of all ages (14.7%) were uninsured at the time of the interview, 55.9 million (18.7%) had been uninsured for at least part of the year prior to the interview, and 31.7 million (10.6%) had been uninsured for more than a year at the time of the interview.
v In 2008, the percentage of children under the age of 18 years who were uninsured at the time of the interview was 8.9%.
v In 2008, 60.2% of unemployed adults aged 18-64 years and 22.2% of employed adults in this age group had been uninsured for at least part of the past year. Also, 33.3% of unemployed adults aged 18-64 years and 13.4% of employed adults in this age group had been uninsured for more than a year.
v In 2008, 19.2% of persons under age 65 years with private health insurance were enrolled in a high deductible health plan (HDHP) including 5.2% who were enrolled in a consumer-directed health plan (CDHP). In addition, 18.7% were in a family with a flexible spending account (FSA) for medical expenses.
v In 2008, the percentage of persons uninsured at the time of interview among the 20 largest states ranged from 3.0% in Massachusetts to 22.9% in Texas.

(Democrat!) Senator Kay Hagan is key person holding up allowing Public Health option to health insurance in the US

NC Senator Kay Hagan Is The Key Person Holding Up Move to Allow Public Option

By Marsha V. Hammond, PhD: Licensed Psychologist, Asheville, NC

Senator Kay Hagan was ‘carefully’ put into place in order to run against Elizabeth Dole. Guess what: NC Dems now have someone who is less malleable than Dole.

With personal vested interests in the health care industry and a long list of contributions, particularly by the monopolizing BCBSNC, Hagan is a key person holding up the ‘public option’ being made available to Americans as she sits on the influential HELP committee that is currently without the guidance of Senator Ted Kennedy.

Why would the ‘public option’ be good for Americans and in particular people in NC whom, like my family and I, are left with no option but to fund the 5th wealthiest ‘Blue’ with a billion dollar war chest to take down the ‘public option’ ?

Almost 75% of citizens in NC who are insured have BCBSNC. There IS no other viable option, even if one’s family is paying $750/ month/ three healthy members for the BCBSNC Advanta which includes no screening mammograms and no available screening colonscopies.

First of all, as Republicans used to realize prior to becoming the party of the wealthy, competition is good as people can really compare the value of products. Hagan, holding onto her $180,000 personal investment in the private health care industry, as well as her future contributions from BCBSNC, wants to tell us that having a public option would ‘destabilize’ those mom and pop health insurance companies like BCBSNC.

Secondly, we could have cheaper health care as re: a public option as Medicare’s administrative costs are 2% vs BCBSNC administrative costs of 15%.

And here’s stink: Ken Eudy, former chair of the NC Dem Party, best man at BCBSNC CEO recent wedding, is the founder and CEO of Capstrat, which is overseeing the BCBSNC push to sink the public option.

This is gonna cost you the next election, Kay Hagan. But that’s OK: you’ll have a nice appointment to the BCBSNC Board.

Marsha V. Hammond has blogspots associated with documenting problems w/ BCBSNC (http://madamedefarge2scutinizingbcbsnc.blogspot.com/) as well as one overviewing NC Mental Health Reform for the past two years (http://madame-defarge.blogspot.com/)

The Public Health Option: Competition will be GOOD for the $-grabbing Private Health Care Industry

Controlling health care costs isn't just necessary for the health of our economy -- it also likely to boost personal incomes.

Sent to you by David Byrom, Ph.D.:
Got Health Insurance? Fighting for a Public Option Might Just Get You a Raise!
By Joshua Holland, AlterNet

Posted on June 29, 2009, Printed on June 29, 2009

http://www.alternet.org/story/140960/

The best argument for overhauling our ridiculously expensive and dysfunctional health care system -- an argument one doesn't often hear in the corporate media -- is that fixing it would put more dollars in your pocket, even if you already have health coverage.

If there's enough pressure on Congress, we'll add a well-designed public insurance option to the current mix of private insurance and government health care programs. It would be like (the highly popular) Medicare program, but open to all comers. We'd end up with a very large insurance pool that would lower costs through efficiencies of scale. The plan would be able to drive a hard bargain with providers and cut down on overhead costs, which amount to about 30 percent of spending in the U.S. right now.

And it wouldn't just contain costs. A publicly administered insurance program would also protect Americans from the kind of health insurance nightmares we hear about so frequently, with families bankrupted by out-of-pocket expenses or stuck in jobs and relationships they hate in order to hold on to their insurance....

See entire article at: http://www.alternet.org/story/140960/

Senator Hagan, like Joe Lieberman, increase their personal health insurance market share by denying public option

What Senator Kay Hagan says:

nothing on her web page about her key position on the HELP committee which will allow movement towards national health insurance and the 'public option' or not...........and she has $180,000 her own monies (if not more) invested in the health care industry as per the Washington Post..................

HOWEVER, her stance appears to be in keeping w/ Joe Liberman's---- whose wife has profited by working as (one of those) consultants re: private health care:

***************************

Hadassah has worked for the lobbying company, APCO Associates, that had many pharmaceutical and healthcare corporations among its clients, as well as four major drug companies such as Pfizer. In March 2005, Hadassah was hired by Hill & Knowlton (another healthcare lobbyist) as "senior counselor" in the firm's "health care and pharmaceuticals practice." Hadassah's close relationship with pharmaceutical and healthcare corporations while her husband introduced legislation benefiting these exact companies has raised questions about improprieties and conflict of interest. (Wikipedia -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadassah_Lieberman --though there are substantially more sources for her and Joe's perfidy.)But it's all the same, what Lee Stranahan illustrates -- follow the money and you'll learn why healthcare reform (to say nothing of public option) is opposed so adamantly by those who "work with the public's interest at heart."

**********************************

Run time: 00:42http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6CP4ieRiV0 Posted on YouTube: June 29, 2009By YouTube Member: StranahanViews on YouTube: 309 Posted on DU: June 29, 2009By DU Member: Eric J in MNViews on DU: 513 Video by Lee Stranahan.Lieberman says he's against a public option to compete with a public plan because there is already enough competition.However, there has been consolidation in the health insurance industry.

Senator Hagan: protecting her own $180,000 in private insurance company investments

In the best of all possible worlds, we would have people who are public servants who do not have vested, selfish interests that they protect. Would that we lived in that place.

*****************************

from: NC Health Report/ Adam Searing

Senator Kay Hagan is unsure whether she wants a public health care option in national health reform or what it means.

Call Senator Hagan at 1-877-852-9462 (toll free) or 202-224-6342 and tell her exactly what it means:

1. It means a real alternative health insurance plan for NC families if people are sick of NC Blue Cross and want another option.
NC Blue Cross insures 3.7 million people out of the 5 million with private health insurance in North Carolina. With 75% of the overall market, NC Blue enjoys a virtual monopoly in our state - especially in the small business and individual markets where their share of business is even higher. Don't North Carolinians - especially individuals and small business owners - deserve more choice?

2. It means discipline and cost control for private insurers.
Nonprofit NC Blue Cross paid its CEO $3.99 million last year after he got a $759,000 raise. If NC Blue had to compete with a health plan that didn't pay its executives such high salaries perhaps they'd be a little more careful with our premium dollars.

3. So-called compromises like "health co-ops" or state public plans won't work.
These are smaller entities that are being put forward as a substitute for the public plan. But the whole point of the public plan is to put pressure on insurers, drug companies, and others to lower costs because of its nationwide reach and buying power. Without a true nationwide public plan we can't keep down costs - which is the whole point.

Want it on video? See Adam Searing and President Obama each explain why a public health care option is crucial for health reform.

Call Senator Hagan at 1-877-852-9462 (toll free) or 202-224-6342 and tell her North Carolinians need a real public health care option.