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Health costs hurting the Irish

By
FRIEDA KLOTZ,
Irish Voice Reporter

Published Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 4:02 PM
Updated Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 4:30 PM

 

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Emergency room costs are one of many that worry the Irish without health insurance
Emergency room costs are one of many that worry the Irish without health insurance

Steep rises in health insurance premiums are crippling small Irish businesses and putting workers’ health at risk.

“We were trying to pull a rabbit out of a hat every year,” says Sean Keogh, originally from Templeogue in County Dublin.

Keogh runs an IT consultation and repair firm in New York, Computer Solutions Provider, Inc. “It literally went up 15 percent or 20 percent a year. It was monstrous.”

In the past five years, the situation has got worse. Keogh has had to drastically downgrade the insurance plan available to his employees, and he leaves it up to them to pay for it.

Co-pays went up, services were trimmed. His firm saved some money, but workers’ medical coverage suffered.

As the U.S. government debates ways to improve the health care system, small Irish firms are struggling to insure their employees. To cope with mounting premiums, they pare down what their plans offer, dropping eye-care and dental, and providing basic coverage only.

The deductibles are high, and more of the costs fall to the employee. Yet the benefits stay the same or are less.

The rates of increase in insurance fees vary, but regardless of provider, they tend to be big.

“The last raise was 10 percent,” says Larry Sullivan, president of an electrical and lighting company in Long Island City called Conserve Electric. The company pays insurance for managers, while a union covers employees. Every six months, the premiums go up.

“They’re getting ridiculous, the charges,” Sullivan complains. He is meeting a new broker next week to see if he can get a better deal.

“It couldn’t be much worse. It’s getting tougher and tougher and tougher for small businesses to survive,” he adds.

Health insurance is becoming a bigger issue all the time, according to Gerry O’Donoghue, a certified public account and financial planner based in Mt. Kisco, New York. He gives advice to businesses and individuals, and says about a third of his clients are Irish.

“It’s gotten worse in the last five years, at a faster rate. I believe it’s only a matter of time before some of my clients don’t offer the benefit,” he says.

Businesses’ inability to offer good healthcare also puts a strain on relations with workers, who blame their bosses when their co-pays increase. But with insurance premiums running at between $500 and $800 per month for individuals, and double that to cover families, there’s often little that bosses can do.

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Posted by wisperingwind on Nov 12, 2009, 08:26 PM EST
I think that we are headed in the wrong direction with the democratic health plan. It will cost all of us far more than we want to pay. It will provide us less medical care than we will need and lastly it will break the bank. We have seen examples of this in Hawaii, Maine and Mass. Why are they fighting so hard to put in place a plan that doesn't work. I need to take what we currently have; i.e. Medicare, etc. and improve it to the point that we need it to be. We can negotiate with drug companies and insurance companies but if the proposed health plan goes in we can't negotiate with a government department. We have seen examples of the current democratic congress members walking out of committee meetings to prevent a vote from being taken. (Rick Rangel is noted for this tactic.)
 


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