I Liked My Health Plan…And Now It’s Been Cut.
It was coming up on my Independence Day holiday weekend, and I should have never gotten the mail…
It was innocent enough; my new normal ‘workout’ walking a few laps around the cul-de-sac on a sunny morning in Minnesota. With the dog park in the middle, and cabins and houses all around the outside-it really is a beautiful stroll to start the day. Slap on the earbuds, dial up some IHeartRadio country station and I’m off!
I finished my third lap, and saw that the flag was down on the mailbox. Knowing I had sent off some bills the day before, I thought I’d check.
Gun Magazine; another bill…’Blue Cross Blue Shield’. Hmmm…
I walked into the foyer, already tugging at the folded flap of the envelope. Chewie was barking insults at me (she didn’t get to walk with this morning), and Nancy was in the kitchen putting away some groceries.
“I got a letter from Blue Cross”, I told her. “The first line says: ‘We regret to inform you’.”
That’s when I headed for the couch. I sat down, unfolded the rest of the letter, and took a breath.
“Dear Sean…”
Then, I read it loud:
“We regret to inform you that at the end of this year, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota will be discontinuing all individual and family insurance plans…”
That’s when I heard Nancy say, “Oh no.”
I could tell she had stopped putting groceries away. In fact, she wasn’t even making a sound.
“As Minnesota’s largest health plan with more than 80 years of history in this state, we did not make this decision lightly…”
I heard Nancy, almost in a whisper, say: “I’m done, too.”
“Blue Cross was hoping that recent premium increases could generate some level of market stability for the future. Unfortunately, the situation has only become more unstable, with health costs to our individual and family plans continuing to accelerate beyond the pricing of our plans and what many member can afford…”
I put the letter down. There wasn’t much more I really needed to read at that point.
I looked up, as Nancy slowly walked past me and down the hallway to the bedroom. I looked at her, hoping to catch a glimpse of her face. Or at least her eyes.
She just closed the door behind her.
It’s pretty sad, actually. “If you like your health plan, you can keep your plan” they told us, over and over again. Yep. As a matter of fact, I DID like my health plan. Even though my deductible had doubled and my premiums had tripled in 6 years, I was working with it.
I liked my plan…and now it’s been cut.
