Comments on: Legislature Hears Small Business Rate Relief Bill

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 19:34:34 +0000

[...] small business bill, H. 4490. (here’s our summary of the bill, and here’s our report on the hearing). The Committee redraft only makes minor changes to the Governor’s proposal. It includes [...]

By: Ronald Jarvis

Ronald Jarvis — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:55:52 +0000

Mr. Patton you failed to identify the name of the plan name and insurance carrier you refer to. This sounds suspicoiously like the orange and apples comparison. Since the Business Express model has only 7 plans compared to 150 offered by MBA I can understand how a reasonable man like yourself could get confused. Come forward with this information and I will point the way. If I am wrong I will gladly yell “uncle”

By: Phil Patton

Phil Patton — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:14:31 +0000

I took the Ron Jarvis Challenge and came up with an obvious winner, Business Express through the Health Connector.

The intermediary he suggested in his posting wanted me to pay a $125 membership fee. Through the Connector, there was no such fee. And the plan I wanted was $25 cheaper per month per employee than the one Mr. Jarvis recommends. With four people, including me on my health plan, that’s an annual savings of $1,325 by going through the Connector. I wish it would save me even more, but I’ll take it.

By: Ronald Jarvis

Ronald Jarvis — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:12:31 +0000

HCFA needs to understand the Connector is just another Intermediary middleman that needs to charge middleman fees to do their business. This can be seen by looking at their “Business Express” model now being deceptively hoisted on the business community as fee saving, which it is not. The same “Business Express” plans can be purchased at the same price or even lower prices directly from insurance carriers or a non-govermental Intermediary, Massachusetts Business Association, MBA. http://www.hsainsurance.com . In fact the Connector charges $10 more per month per subscriber than MBA and the carriers for businesses enrolling 1-5 employees. That translates to $120 annual overcharge per subcriber by the Connector, not the $300 annual Connector savings that has been deceptively advertised to over 170,000 Commonwealth businesses through a letter jointly sent by the Connector and the Department of Revenue,DOR at taxpayers expense. MBA and the carriers charge the same price as the Connector for businesses enrolling 6-50 employees.

So where is the Connector reduction of administrative fees and squeezing out their own “middleman Fees” with the “Business Express” model? Does HCFA expect any difference with the “Affordable” plan when it recommends that The Connector be a sole source Intermediary should the plan be enacted into law?

HCFA should get their facts straight before they go on record thinking that the Connector will reduce administrative fees. In fact they haven’t so far and HCFA is committing journalistic malpractice by not conducting a thorough investigation before going on record supporting a false premise. It is easy enough to confirm by going to the Connector and the MBA websites and do side by side proposals. The truth will be be apparent.