The end of a good intentions, good-bye Basic Health

I will be the first person to announce the good news if this post turns out to be completely false. It doesn’t look good for Basic Health but I still hope my making the call this soon is false. Basic Health (part of the Health Care Authority) hired me the first time in 1996. One of my first projects was to solicit accounts that inquired about Basic Health Plan (BHP) but never followed through. The good old, “X04” accounts. There was a marketing team ready to ask for the persons business as soon as I provided them with a list of names and addresses.

Health Care Authority hired me the second time in 2006. The marketing team was no longer here because there wasn’t a need to seek new business. There were over 100K enrollees on BHP if I remember correctly. This figure could be over stated but I do remember a population of 107K or more in 2006. The first project I did was to code up a new insurance offering, Small Employer Health Insurance Program (SEHIP). The system was completed ahead of schedule and ready for implementation. The Health Care Authority pulled the plug on it by telling the legislature we needed six more months (don’t ask, it’s a “government” thing).

Fast forward to today and there are about 58K subsidized members on BHP. There are 200K folks on the waiting list to get on BHP but no new accounts are being added. The lowest cost premium went from $17 to $34 and most rates were doubled one of the last times the legislature cut back on BHP. The discussion from the legislature and governor isn't about how much to cut from BHP it is about eliminating BHP by Feb 1, 2011.

There isn't much more they can cut from the program since the last round. The rates were doubled so there where some that didn't think insurance was important enough to keep or, most likely, it was priced out of reach. Doubling the rates could lower enrollment even more but it wouldn't be "trimming the fat" it would be "sanding down the bone".

I don't want to see the end of Basic Health. But in the grand scheme of things, having coverage for 58,000 when there are 200,000 on the waiting list and an estimated 1,000,000 uninsured in Washington State, the administration is entirely too expensive for the number of those being served.

It will be bad news to the 58,000 on Basic Health and the 3,300 on Washington Health (a post for a different day!).


Take a minute to visit Old iSkool and The Goal Farm too!
I am sticking with this hands-free data-entry device and still would like someone to volunteer to edit this blog. I'm doing the best I can but it's hard to catch my mistakes and all the times the software doesn't understand me.