I enjoy a good cheeseburger. I like a quarter pound of good ground beef and a slice of American cheese on a whole wheat bun. I’m not interested in tomatoes, onions, lettuce or anything else on my cheeseburger. When I go out for lunch once a week to my favorite little diner, they are so familiar with my order that they don’t even give me the menu, they put this together for me just the way I like it. Each time, my cheeseburger costs me 4 bucks.
One day while I was enjoying my cheeseburger a nice fellow from the government walked in and said to me “Everybody should be able to have a cheeseburger.” Well that sounds fine with me. Off goes our government man to design the Affordable Cheeseburger Act. The cheeseburger the government decided was appropriate has bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, mustard, and pickle all piled up on a bun. It costs 12 bucks.
Now if you just want a plain cheeseburger, you can scrape all of those extras off, but you still have to pay for them.
So too with the Affordable Care Act. If you don’t want all of the extras that will be piled into the health plans you don’t need to use them but you will still have to pay for them.
Fortunately for our small group clients, there may be an alternative in self-funded health plans. Self-funded plans are not subjected to all of the rules of the Affordable Care Act and may provide an affordable alternative.
If you are not interested in bacon, lettuce and tomato on your health plan, contact us. A self-funded plan may be the correct alternative for you. If you don’t currently have a good relationship with your insurance agent, or if you are ready for an insurance re-evaluation, call Tom Ostdiek at Ostdiek Group, Inc. 630-834-0125.
