How familiar does this scenario sound: A person (maybe you) goes back to work or continues to work past retirement in order to keep health insurance for their family. They make this choice and are under the impression that by paying their typically expensive premium each month, they have secured “better” or “cheaper” rates for service, in this case prescription drugs. Everyday our staff sees these people come to our website for help, and everyday our customers are amazed to learn the truth about how their drug benefits work. Very commonly, insurance companies have contracted rates with pharmacies and group their drugs in tiers. Put simply, they have a list that says drugs on list A cost $15.00, drugs on list B cost $35.00, and so forth. Here’s the problem: We are seeing more and more people paying $15.00 while … Continue reading
In a report published this week by Health.com, 11 of the nations large life and health insurance companies were recognized for owning almost $2 billion dollars of fast food companies in their stock portfolios. The report comes as a shock to some, and a belief that these insurance companies should be promoting healthy choices, not profiting from the stocks of fast food corporations whose products contribute to increased morbidity and mortality. The fast food companies included were McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, and Taco Bell. The author of the study, J. Wesley Boyd, M.D. stated, “They can charge you more for life insurance if you have these negative health outcomes that people have as a result of eating fast food,” while suggesting insurance companies profit twice by those who eat a significant amount of fast food, both through higher premiums for … Continue reading
