Healthcare costs are escalating rapidly.  More and more average Americans are shouldering increasing levels of that cost personally, in the form of co-pays, co-insurance, higher deductibles, and employee contributions to group plans.  None of this is breaking news for anyone who’s been paying attention. 

As an independent agent and co-owner of my own operation, I feel blessed to be able to help people shop multiple companies and plans so they can select coverage that fits their individual situation, needs, and budget.  That range of choice and freedom is important.  As is the ability to obtain the healthcare they need when they need it. 

I sell policies from a number of different companies.  Whatever works best for the individual or family.  I sell Blue Cross.  For some folks, it is the absolute best option.  For others, it is the only option.  It is a valuable part of my portfolio of offerings.  However, I do not want it to be my ONLY offering.  BCBSM (Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan) has an important role as one player among many in the free market.  And that’s how it needs to stay.

Problem:  I recieved an e-mail from an associate this morning alerting me to what appears to be the latest in a series of political machinations on the part of the BCBSM hierarchy aimed at reducing or eliminating the freedom of choice for Michigan citizens.  Details are sketchy at this point, but I’ll post more as it becomes available.  As for the gist of the email itself, I couldn’t say it better, so I’m passing it on.

The best we can do at this time is to speculate on the motives of BCBSM, however, their latest volley against their competitors and insurance agents is evil in nature. Apparently, BCBSM as in the past, has drafted their own bill regarding health insurance in Michigan and forwarded it to some willing democratic legislators in the State house of Representatives. It is speculated their intent was to hold it out of committee until the last minute, attach a bill number at the last minute (so their competitors, agents and agencies would not know what is going on) and move it to the floor of the house as an attachment to the State Budget. The budget must be passed in the next 10 days to avoid a State government shutdown. Because of the urgency of passing the state budget, it will sail through with nary a negative response. From the information we have heard the proposal will force the small group reform rules onto the individual health insurance business and up to 99 employees. This would destroy the individual health insurance business in Michigan.

The costs would rise dramatically and the public would clamor for State sponsored health care; And who would be there to take over a state sponsored health care program? You guessed it, BCBSM. Why? Because they are the biggest, and most experienced at dealing with large numbers and will convince the legislators with all their lobbyists.  It is time for all agents and agencies to recognize that BCBSM is not the friend of Michigan Citizens no matter what Ernie Harwell says. It is time for all agents and agencies to recognize that BCBSM is first and foremost a political organization before they are an insurance provider. Their apparent proposal is a slap in the face to agents, agencies and Michigan citizens. They have nobody’s best interest but their own.  WRITE, CALL, EMAIL, MAIL GO TO THE HOMES OF YOUR STATE SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVE AND TELL THEM THE BCBSM PROPOSAL IS UNACCEPTABLE TO YOU AND YOUR CLIENTS.

Good Luck.

I just got off the phone with another family that has no idea how they’re going to pay their medical bills.  Mom is hospitalized, on bed rest, with serious complications six months into her pregnancy, and may need to stay there until she delivers.  Odds are good that when she does deliver, it’ll be early and they’ll have costs for neo-natal intensive care to deal with as well.  She’s calling around from her hospital room and searching the web from a laptop, looking for something that can cushion the blow to their family.  Dad, being self-employed, wanted to do the right thing and protect his family, so he made sure they had health coverage.  And he found a great deal with a national organization loaded with benefits specifically designed to meet the needs of the growing self-employed population. The problem?  When it came time to cough up some real benefits for a real family, their insurance provider threw them under a bus!

That provider, Mega Life and Health, along with it’s parent holding company UICI and their so-called National Association for the Self-Employed has already been forced into major settlements with policyholders in Massachusetts, with California not far behind.  Still, the companies’ agents continue to work their way into people’s homes and pressure them into quick sales of products that just don’t deliver.  Report after report comes in from policyholders who were led to believe they were covered, only to have most or all of their claims denied.  Featured in a recent USA Today article, Mega Life, NASE, and their affiliates are currently under investigation for deceptive practices in 36 states.

This is a clear case of buyer-beware.  My advice is, if called by one of these reps, hang up.  If emailed, block ‘em.   They will insist on getting a personal appointment in your home, and then bombard you with a load of information about membership benefits that may or may not actually be available in your area, and finally gloss over actual details of their so-called insurance coverage.  What people end up with is more of a healthcare discount program with a baffling set of base plan exclusions.   Bottom line?  If anyone is pressuring you to write the deal now… DON’T!  They probably don’t want you looking too closely at the details.

Now I’m not going to state categorically that NASE and its cohorts’ activities are an outright scam.  I’m simply going to ask why anyone would put their family’s healthcare dollars in the hands of a group that is getting so much bad press.  You decide.  If you’re reading this, you’re obviously sitting at a computer or pulling up a feed on your I-Phone.  Go to Google, or Yahoo, or your preferred digital dispenser of all things wise and necessary, and search “complaints” + any of the following names:  NASE, UICI, Mega Life and Health, HealthMarkets, Mid-West National, Chesapeake Life, the Alliance for Affordable Services, or Americans for Financial Security.  Apparently when one wears out its welcome in a given region, they just set up shop under the next name.

If you are shopping, about to lose your current health insurance, or are uninsured now, here are a few tips to keep from getting taken advantage of. 

1.   Be smart.  Shop around.  Compare plans and rates.  And keep in mind that you get what you pay for. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

2.   Check with a licensed independent agent.  Someone who is actually able to sell you products from multiple companies.  This costs you nothing.  You pay the same for your insurance whether you buy directly from a given company or use a broker.  Ask questions.

3.   Get comparative quotes.  Many legitimate agents will give you quotes that compare competing plans detail for detail, side by side, in the same format.  This makes it simple to compare “apples to apples” and identify key differences in price and coverage provisions. 

4.   Understand that if you fill out a generic “free quote” form online, odds are your information is going to be sold all over the country, and the calls and emails will flow in.

5.   Settle on a broker you can trust.  This may not be the one with the lowest initial prices.  Until he or she knows your particular needs and budget, it’s impossible to fashion a plan that “fits” for you.  Many legitimate independent broker/agents will have 300+ plans and multiple top rated companies from which to choose. 

6.   Pick a company that is rated well.  Insurance carriers will state in their literature that their ratings are A, A+, A++, etc.  These are based on their level of business and financial stability and integrity.  Independent services which produce these ratings and guides include AM Best, Fitch, Standard and Poors’s, Moody’s, and Weiss.

7.   Check with your state’s insurance commissioner, or insurance regulatory agency, for a current directory of complaints and claims dispute histories on the companies you are considering. 

Yes, I’m a licensed independent agent.  And yes, I’d be delighted to help you find affordable health coverage.  If we’re not currently licensed to write business in your particular state, that can be remedied in short order.  But there’s another option as well. Pick up the phone, or check the net, and locate an independent agent near you.  Protect your family, be wise, and buy smart!

I promise.  This will be my only cross-post between blogs as that always  annoys me.  But it made sense here:

A friend of mine is a very successful personal investment counsellor.  He also gives himself away.  In many ways.  His time.  His money.  The passions of his heart to bring healing and wholeness to people whose bodies and lives are broken or sick in some fashion. 

I remember a conversation we had not too long ago.  He was talking about praying for his business.  He has people who have committed to pray for his business.  A novel idea?  We pray for ministries.  But do we in the church pray for the guidance and success of our brothers and sisters in the marketplace?  Why not?  Are business activities somehow dirty or profane? 

A lot of business people are made to feel like second class citizens in the church.  If you can’t give your time to “real ministry”, or aren’t “called to full time service in the church”, then you settle for a life that is somehow spiritually second best.  But you can still give, and support those who are pursuing the higher calling. 

 The practical fact is that most real people live the vast portion of their lives outside the walls of the church.  And, statistically, most will never be actively involved any kind of institutional or programmatic “ministry”.  They don’t have time or energy left for another activity or program.  So is their assigned role to pay their tithe and be weekend spiritual spectators and cheering block while the professional Christians and their small but dedicated cadre of volunteers engage in the real work of ministry?

There is a different way of thinking emerging.  A different way of understanding “church”.  Many have paid lip service for a long time to the notion that the church is the entire body of believers and that all believers have unique and essential gifts and callings. And many have paid lipservice to the notion that Jesus really does desire and intend to exercise lordship over every aspect of life.  And to redeem and transform and demonstrate His grace and power practically and overtly in every sphere of activity. 

Today, these notions are being embraced more and more widely by people who are no longer satisfied with the lipservice.  They want to see it happen.  They want to start “doing the stuff”, as John Wimber used to say, in the streets.  They are embracing a radical notion that most true apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, or people gifted and called to a multitude of other ministries, will never carry out their ministry within the structure of the institutional church.  And even more radical is the idea that they are not intended to.  Their calling by God is to live and move and minister in the context of the marketplace.  Their home, their office, their 9-5.  The doctor, the cop, the stay-at-home-mom, the construction worker, the mail carrier, the janitor. Their ministry is not something other than their job.  Their lives are not that cleanly compartmentalized.  Excellence and service and celebration and ministry and prayer and shepherding and mentoring and just being Christian is an integral part of the daily rhythm of life.  Organizations like The Joseph Company and Harvest Evangelism are providing support and vision for this growing movement.   And teachers like Os Hillman and Lance Wallnau are raising the expectation that Christians can actually be CALLED to the marketplace, and have an obligation to bring good news and transformation and godly excellence to their sphere of activity and influence, wherever that is.  

As I wrote in my bio,  I believe our faith calls us to be in the coffeeshop, in the street, in the marketplace, dilletante, meddling in simply everything.   I’m not a full-time minister.  But I’m a full-time minister.  And I’m called to prayer.  And I’m called to be a businessman.  There can be no disconnect there.  And there shouldn’t be.

Back to my friend.  As we shared time and coffee at a downtown joint, he told me that his real moment of peace came when he was re-reading the Sermon on the Mount, and he heard the Spirit of God say to him, “Quit fussing over tomorrow.  When you do that, you’re don’t look any different than the non-believers around you.  How can I bless that? You just be where I’ve called you, do your job, and do it with excellence.  I’ll take care of the rest.  If you take care of MY business, I’ll take care of YOURS!”