There is no such thing as privacy

I have learned that anyone can find out anything about you at anytime. Quite frightening, but true.

Example, I sent a letter to my county's representatives in the Virginia House of Delegates & VA Senate last month. I signed it with my name and on my own personal letterhead.

My letter found its way to the Bureau of Insurance for the State of Virginia, then to my insurance carrier, to the broker handling our insurance, and then to our company's HR department, and back to me.

In my letter I did not mention the name of the company I worked for, our broker, or our insurance company.

I have now put myself in a very bad spot. My complaint was not about the insurance carrier (which happens to be a very good medical insurance company), but to the rising cost of healthcare statewide and the stress it adds to VA's families.

I enclosed my letter below - feel free to comment. I have already blown my cover so at this point - so what.

If anyone can explain to me how they traced my insurance carrier, my broker, my company, and then me. I would love to hear it. It is a long letter, so I apologize beforehand.

As a warning be very careful what you say in letters, on the phone, etc. we have no idea who is watching, hearing, or reading it.

Dear Mr. xxx,

I am writing you to address my concerns on the rising cost of healthcare for xxx's families
and Virginians statewide. I am an office manager for a mechanical contracting company outside
xxx, Virginia. We are a small company with eight employees (six employees participate in our
health insurance program). As a small organization our company feels it is their duty to help their
employees (the backbone of their business) in finding and being able to afford a decent healthcare
program for them and their families. Our company pays 50% of our medical coverage and 85% of our
dental coverage. Unfortunately, healthcare is increasing at a rapid rate and as a small company they are finding it hard to keep up.

Concerning employees, myself included, are grateful that our company is willing to contribute to our healthcare needs, making the burden easier for us to bear. But, it is extremely hard even with 50% being contributed. My husband and I work for the same company. It is now costing us $159 a month for our medical coverage alone (this is after our company pays half of the cost). If our company was unable to do this, it would cost my husband and I $318.00 a month (that is $3,816.00 a year) for decent medical coverage. We would be unable to afford it. A family of four currently costs $550.00 a month for coverage. How does a family making $40,000 a year afford this? They do not. For many families this cost is more than two auto payments.

I understand the rising cost of hospital expenses, doctor bills, and the increase for new
prescription drugs, but the typical xxx family cannot carry this burden much longer. We are
already over taxed, property taxes, real estate taxes, taxes on food, and the clothes we wear, and then there are our everyday living expenses such as electric, mortgage, phone, auto payments and insurance (auto, homeowner's, and medical/dental) and we still need to save on top of this. It is difficut to do. My husband and I are very fortunate, we make a little more than the average xxx family. We also have no children, which allows us additional money for savings and entertainment. My peers, on the other hand, do not have this luxury.

I have enclosed our company's (no co. name) healthcare costs for the years 2000-2002. Our costs average almost $20 more a month per year. Healthcare costs are rising approximately $240 per year per individual. For a family of four this average is $852.00 more annually.

Hospitals, doctors, and prescription drug costs have increased substantially. This increase is then passed on to the insurance companies, and then passed onto to the consumer. The consumer,
unfortunately, cannot pass this increase on. We have no choice then to budget the money each month, usually subtracting it from our grocery bill, entertainment funds, or worse, our savings. One day the entertainment funds will be gone, the savings will be gone, and the grocery money will be gone. What do we do next? Not make our mortgage or car payment? Absolutely not.

We then have no other alternative than to cancel our existing medical coverage. We see this day in and day out, throughout Virginia. We are continually taxed to help fund government spending,
corporate entities costs deferrals, our own expenses, and sometimes our neighbors, as well. It is too
much. Virginians (and Americans) cannot continue down this destructive path. Something needs to be
done to allow Virginians (and xxx) affordable healthcare.

I hope you will share my views when the General Assembly reopens this year. Also please share the following facts:

o In the past decade medical coverage has increased 110%
o The average income has increased 15-20%
o Medical costs still continue to increase, annually, between 10-20%

These statistics are alarming and need to be controlled, otherwise we will wonder why half of all Virginians will not have adequate medical coverage.

I thank you for your time and look forward to your response.


Sincerely,


Dani

 

sl,

I don't know why the elected official forwarded my letter to the Bureau of Insurance. Maybe they wanted to make a point to the insurance bureau saying 'see all the complaints I get on medical, auto, etc. You handle it.'

My letter was to address the increasing cost of healthcare - statewide. Not against one particular company. I have shopped around for medical coverage no one's rates are any better. As I stated in my letter the average medical coverage increases 10-20% a year! In any other industry something would have been done.

Dani

PS Too bad my letters about credit don't get this kind of response. Well, that's probably a good thing. If Experian received one of my letters I would have had 4 BKs added to my report.

 

I am not embarrassed by the letter I wrote. What I don't understand are the steps they took, how it got there, and why. And I am still waiting on a solution.

Dani

PS The only personal information I put on the letter was my name, address, and home phone number.

 

Keepmine,

It puts me in a bad spot for the following reasons: the insurance commission contacted the medical carrier - probably asking what is going on. The medical carrier then contacted the broker probably 'suggesting' them to just shut me up. My company gets the letter and the HR dept. is concerned they are going to cancel us (I don't see how since we do make our payments each month), but who knows. I guess they don't have to renew us. Why renew someone who isn't happy? But, I am not happy with the entire industry so I am going to bitch to whatever company I have insurance through.

The insurance carrier probably has in their computer next to my name "bitch". If none of my claims are processed I will know why.

Completely OT but do those who work in CS actually keep track of particular customers. Eg. John Doe - hard of hearing, calls every Tues. to complain, etc. Just curious.

Dani