Healthcare Costs - A major concern 23 years PRIOR to ObamaCare

[InsideUPS]

The following 1990 article was inspired from several other threads on BC particularly Healthcare, Obamacare, and a thread on "Old Photos". I started looking through some ancient UPS documentation I keep and found an interesting article on UPS healthcare.

It appears that healthcare costs were on the rise long before ObamaCare (Affordable Healthcare Act)....... I believe we are becoming more aware of them as they become central bargaining issues in our contract.

 

[East coast navy]

Like I said Obamacare is a smoke screen for company's to make a crap load of money. Stand your ground brothers and sisters. Nice post insideUPS, hopefully everybody will value this.

 

[Catatonic]

The following 1990 article was inspired from several other threads on BC particularly Healthcare, Obamacare, and a thread on "Old Photos". I started looking through some ancient UPS documentation I keep and found an interesting article on UPS healthcare.

It appears that healthcare costs were on the rise long before ObamaCare (Affordable Healthcare Act)....... I believe we are becoming more aware of them as they become central bargaining issues in our contract.

In 1983, healthcare costs were the highest percent increasing costs to UPS and was declared a looming crisis.

It may have been identified before that but that was the first time I was made aware of it.

 

[big boy]

make ups pay

 

[Benben]

UPS is self-insured in terms of libability insurance for accidents. It is beyond me why they do not take the same approach towards health insurance. Every major market has physician owned hospitals and physician owned provider groups. Maybe its past time to stand up to BC/BS, Aetna et. al. and negotiate better/cheaper plans in individual markets. Lord knows they play hard-ball with the Teamsters so I am sure they know how to negotiate contracts. Maybe smaller might be better in this matter.

 

[balland chain]

With little coming down the pike, I have a feeling we are screwed with our healthcare..BC/BS down south is horrible . High copays, claims not getting paid, claims getting denied. Speaking for myself in the Central States plan, it cant get much worse than what it is now..at least I can write off all the medical coverage they refuse to pay for. Usually over 5400 bucks a year... that is not how insurance is suppose to work..

 

[Atomic_Smurf]

Rising healthcare costs have been an issue for years. The solution we were told was the PPACA aka Obamacare. For the left to step back now & say "Hey don't look at us" is like the Auto repair shop returning your car that won't run after you've spent thousands & saying "Hey don't blame us, it was in bad shape when you brought it to us". Obamacare isn't designed to fix our healthcare system as it is today. It is designed to change it, from employer based & private insurance to a nationally run. single payer system.

 

[bbsam]

Maybe. Obamacare is probably far from perfect. But for the right to admit that costs had been going through the roof and spent years doing nothing? And now to suggest letting that same "free market" somehow correct itself? How disingenuous is that?

 

[Catatonic]

Ris Obamacare isn't designed to fix our healthcare system as it is today. It is designed to change it, from employer based & private insurance to a nationally government run single payer system.

That is the long-term goal no doubt as it has been part of the Democrat's party platform for decades ... well before Hillary-care.

 

[Catatonic]

With little coming down the pike, I have a feeling we are screwed with our healthcare..BC/BS down south is horrible . High copays, claims not getting paid, claims getting denied. Speaking for myself in the Central States plan, it cant get much worse than what it is now..at least I can write off all the medical coverage they refuse to pay for. Usually over 5400 bucks a year... that is not how insurance is suppose to work..

Actually that is how "insurance" is suppose to work.

That is why all the hullabaloo is about healthcare plan funding.

 

[bbsam]

That is the long-term goal no doubt as it has been part of the Democrat's party platform for decades ... well before Hillary-care.

And companies LOVE it (even the ones who won't come out and say it).

 

[Atomic_Smurf]

And companies LOVE it (even the ones who won't come out and say it).

Very true. Companies don't want to deal with providing healthcare to their employees. Once they see how easy Obamacare makes it for them to offload their employees onto the state exchanges there will probably be a avalanche of people loosing their employer based healthcare plans. That includes Teamsters & other union working class people that have enjoyed having the best insurance for decades. Soon we will all have equally crappy healthcare whether you earn it on not.

 

[rudy5150]

Thats why we cant get snubbed on wage increases like last contract especially the part timers. Eventually we will ALL have the same average healthcare. As a part timer your not going to be able to say I only make $11 an hour but I have great benefits.....I work this job just for that!

 

[brown_trousers]

Healthcare costs have always been on the rise. This is not groundbreaking news! The obamacare dilemna is that it is hard enough to pay for one's own healthcare with costs rising as they are, but now most of us will have to also pay for other people's healthcare as well as our own. Obama care just magnifies the costs for us responsible people and places more burden on the company providing it.

 

[Catatonic]

That is the long-term goal no doubt as it has been part of the Democrat's party platform for decades ... well before Hillary-care.

And companies LOVE it (even the ones who won't come out and say it).

I agree and that system would make it illegal for a company or union to provide healthcare.

I've posted several times that I have no problem with national healthcare but Obamacare does not provide that.
That is the biggest failure of Obamacare.

 

[brownmonster]

The problem with healthcare is it costs 150 bucks to get a tetanus shot at the doctor and 10 bucks at the county health department. One makes no profit and one makes 140.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

The doctor is not making $140----he will only make what the insurance company pays him. Google "DRG".

 

[brownmonster]

The doctor is not making $140----he will only make what the insurance company pays him. Google "DRG".

​He made it because I paid it out of pocket. Won't make that mistake again.

 

[Catatonic]

The problem with healthcare is it costs 150 bucks to get a tetanus shot at the doctor and 10 bucks at the county health department. One makes no profit and one makes 140.

One is subsidized by the taxes you pay and the doctor probably got less than $20 and the administrative cost to deal with teh insurance companies is greater than $10 - I doubt if the doctor got $10.

 

[Bagels]

One is subsidized by the taxes you pay and the doctor probably got less than $20 and the administrative cost to deal with teh insurance companies is greater than $10 - I doubt if the doctor got $10.

​Not necessarily. Most doctors charge $400 or more for a full blood panel test -- and that doesn't include the charge for the office visit, or the administrative charge for drawing the blood. It doesn't cost a doctor anything close to $400 to provide the test, which is why most will accept $20 or less from PPOs & HMOs as full payment. If you don't have insurance, your doctor will not negotiate cash rates anywhere close to the HMO/PPO rates... he'll probably request $100 or more for the full blood panel + the office visit & administrative fees.

Late last year I had a swab test performed. Knowing that my insurance considered it experimental, I sought the cheapest cash price & located a doctor who would perform it for $39 + $15 admin fee. After paying him $54, he then billed my insurance $120 for the swab, $280 for the lab work & $240 for the office visit. He received $120 for the office visit, then billed me for the remaining $350 (crediting me my $54), insisting that since I had insurance, it was "unethical" for him to accept the cash price. Honestly, when it comes to $$$, doctors are some of the greediest people around.... (but it wasn't unethical for him not to tell me this to begin with)