Don't you just love March Madness? College basketball, long lunches and office pools.
Hey, speaking of gambling, a new study from the admittedly left-leaning Commonwealth Fund reveals about 20 percent of the 43 million people who lost their jobs over the last couple of years found themselves without health insurance. That adds up to about 9 million more people wandering around out there without insurance – or nearly 60 percent of those who lost their coverage along with their job.
About a quarter of those who lost their coverage were able to find another source, according to the study, while another 14 percent extended their coverage through COBRA.
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Obviously, this study is slanted, funded by a group openly advocating reform. They count anyone without coverage for any length of time – usually longer than a month – as being uninsured in that calendar year. It also counts those unable to secure coverage and those who turned it down because of higher prices. Never mind the economies of scale between individual coverage prices and group.
The point is, groups like these are constantly pushing their anti-free market messages, but you hear little from our side of the argument. We as an industry need to make a stronger, more concerted effort to get all of the information out there. There's a reason that the victors write history. And if we don't get our voices heard, it's gonna be written all over us.
And, before I forget, today's the last day to get the conference rate at the Gaylord Opryland for Benefits Selling Expo next month in Nashville. So, if you haven't locked down your room yet, I'm not sure what you're waiting for. And I don't want to hear any complaints about being stuck a couple miles away at the Embassy Suites.
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