I have been one of the uninsured that seems to have congress in an uproar, for about 3 years now. Before the Government starts making plans for me, I thought it best that I establish my own baseline of heath care and go back to Kaiser, who has been my family's primary medical provider, for as long as I can remember.
I received several emails this month, telling me about an "OPEN ENROLLMENT" period for Kaiser, that would expire on October 31st. Being the procrastinator that I am, the decision to look into this had been put off since the early part of the month.
A couple of days ago, I got serious, after reading one more warning from "THE BENEFIT STORE". So, I followed the lead in the email and visited their site, providing some personal information before I could see the rates and different plans available. What I received is the following email, with 3 different PDF attachments of the Good, Better and Best plans available to me. To be honest, I was pretty blown away by the prices - but what did I know, I hadn't paid for health insurance premiums for several years, and now I'm even in an older age bracket - ouch.
Before we go on, I want to point out that this is addressed to "ALL MEMBERS ADDRESSED" and that this if thanking me for my "Interest in Medical Programs for Local REALTOR® Association Members."
So, I looked at several of the programs. Penciled out the numbers as if I were going to have 10 office visits during the year and see what my total out of pocket would be, based on the numerous variables. Fortunately for me, I did this in my office and left the results on a yellow pad, on my desk.
I called the company and was told by a very busy sounding switchboard operator that someone would call me by 8:00 p.m. OK, I admit, I felt disapointed but determined now, to get some heath coverage before the window was shut tight for another year.
Well, I got the call around 6:30...just as my wife and I were sitting down to dinner. I asked him to call back in a half hour. So, 90 minutes later he calls. I told him I was no longer in the mood to talk business that I was unwinding and relaxing with my family and asked if he could call me in the morning.
Turns out that our telemarketer friend doesn't come to work until 6:00 p.m. and he asked if it would be OK if his boss called. I agreed. Fortunately, I did not take the call when it came in as I was busy tending to my real estate business.
I had some down-time later in the afternoon and thought I would check it out a little further, before returning the call and signing up. First, I went to the NAR website only to find that NAR does not offer any group medical insurance. OK, I admit I was confused, so I quickly checked the CAR site, looking up the member benefits and still did not see any reference to an open enrollment with Kaiser or any other health insurance provider, either.
Time to pull out the email and start reading between the lines. Hmmmmmmm
So, once again I look closely at the attachments and study 2 or 3 plans that I had narrowed down the results to include.
I quickly re-figured the numbers and just did not feel good about what I saw. A plan without a deductible and a $20 co-pay would have cost me $648.96 a month, as a 55 year old male.
At this point, I decided to visit the Kaiser website at www.KP.Org.
Answered just a few questions and nothing more detailed than my date of birth...without even giving my name. And then, viola I had a simple to understand list of numerous plans for me to select from...none of which were identical to the Benefit Store plans. The good news is they were all a lot cheaper!
The most similar plan that Kaiser offered me, directly was for a $25 co-pay and no deductible for only $462.00 per month...MY GOSH, THAT'S A DIFFERENCE OF $186.96 PER MONTH....I CAN'T BELIEVE IT - IT'S $2,243.52 A YEAR HIGHER FOR NEARLY IDENTICAL INSURANCE - USING THE EXACT SAME PROVIDER. Looking at the fine print, it appears as if every other line item in the benefit coverage was identical.
So, I for one think this is a phony offer. They may have a legal license to sell this policy and it may be 100% legal...I don't know, but I believe in my heart that this is a phony offer and even borderline fraud as every insinuation is that as a member of my local REALTOR Association I am eligible for this benefit. What I find humorous is no where do they use the term benefit except in the name of their company.
REALTORS - please be careful...it's bad enough we have to worry about bad guys laying in wait at vacant homes wanting to do us harm...there are bad guys out there lurking in your email box, too. Had they been able to connect me to an agent yesterday afternoon, I would have gone down for the count and been done with it...feeling good that I was once again insured. Well Guess What, just over 24 hours later and I do feel good - because I am insured and $2,243.52 richer...heck, that's like selling one more home!
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UPDATE: PLEASE RED COMMENT 53 AND MY RESPONSE WHICH FOLLOWS
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