Farm Bureau is making a concerted effort to compete with Allstate's reputation for callous, obstructive bullying in claims management. This week, it managed to avoid paying an injured woman's PIP claims by asserting that she could not transfer coverage to a rental vehicle while her vehicle was "in the shop".
Continue reading "Farm Bureau strikes again: no coverage for a substitute vehicle" »
Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a discrimination verdict that awarded compensation to Lilly Ledbetter. Goodyear had underpaid her for almost two decades, but she didn't learn about the huge gap between her pay and her male co-workers until she was approaching retirement. The Court's majority interpreted the equal pay statute in such a manner that Ledbetter had to file suit within 180 days of the start of the unequal treatment--even though she knew nothing about it. Sadly, Senate Republicans rejected a reform measure that had broad support from both parties; it would have given women a limited time to sue after "discovering" that they had been victimized by discrimination.
Continue reading "Senate Republicans block discrimination reform legislation" »
In previous blog entries we have reported on the shortage of dentists in the U.S. and the decline in dental care as schools graduate fewer dentists and more dentists retire. Despite this documented and increasing shortage, the documentation of declining dental health, and increasing income for dentists, dental advocacy groups and lobbyists continue to fight the licensing of dental therapists to provide more mundane dental services, particularly in rural areas.
Continue reading "Dentists object to practice by dental therapists" »
In Estate of Buckner v. City of Lansing the "gang of four" on the Supreme Court recently reversed a decision allowing the family of two young girls to sue the City for plowing snow over the sidewalk and forcing the girls out into the road on their walk home. One girl was killed and the other suffered a catastrophic head injury when they were struck by a motorist. The majority--composed of four activist Republicans-- held that the City's duty to maintain sidewalks and reasonably safe roads does not include a duty to avoid blocking the sidewalk with snow.
The guidelines adopted by the Association of American Medical Colleges aren't very strong and don't prohibit much, but they would pressure medical schools to prohibit "ghostwriting" research and ban some gifts given to physicians and staff by pharmaceutical companies. In prior blogs you can find explanations of the extent to which the pharmaceutical companies have misused their connections with the medical profession.
Today the Engler "Gang of Four" handed down another decision denying a seriously injured motorist any recovery.
Continue reading "Another majority abomination on "serious impairment"" »
In this action to recover personal injury protection benefits from Allstate Insurance Company, the summary disposition in favor of the provider was upheld where Allstate opposed the provider's motion with only conclusory affidavits disputing the allegations of the provider's complaint. The Court held that in response to a motion for summary disposition, Allstate was required to provide specific evidence in defense of the claims and not merely conclusory objections to payment.
Chinese authorities announced May 1 that it had broken a child labor ring that forced rural kids aged 13 and 14 to work as many as 300 hours a month in export factories building toys and electronics. A similar scandal was brought to light in 2007, involving brick kilns. The children identified this year were paid about 2/3 of the Chinese minimum wage and no overtime; many were literally sold to the highest bidder upon arrival in an industrial city after being conned, kidnapped or sold by their parents to labor brokers. Local and national government representatives and academics acknowledged that this is not an isolated problem.
This is the labor "bottom" that we are racing towards in our effort to reduce labor costs for consumer products, (and conversely, labor compensation) to a bare minimum.
In Ross v. Blue Care Network, Justice Taylor wrote for the majority, upholding the Insurance Commissioner's decision denying payment of health care costs incurred by a patient dying from multiple myeloma. Under his health insurance contract, Ross was required to seek care "in-network" first. When U of M couldn't treat him, he went to one of two facilities in the world that treat multiple melanoma (in Little Rock, Arkansas, surprisingly), where the doctors concluded that his life expectancy, without treatment, was on the order of 7 days. Blue Care denied payment. When the family appealed, the statutory Independent Review Organization--made up of health care professionals--recommended payment, but Governor Engler's Insurance Commissioner rejected the recommendation. Justice Taylor endorsed the politically-appointed bureaucrat's decision.
In the recent case entitled Mary Ellen McDonald v. Farm Bureau, the Engler appointees to Michigan's Supreme Court overruled 30 years of case law to allow Farm Bureau to enforce a contract provision that was previously considered illegal and unenforceable.
The April 22 New York Times reported that the FDA has made progress in tracing Heparing contamination--which has resulted in more than 80 deaths in the United States--to Chinese suppliers. Following this drama points out serious problems in our future relationship with Chinese authorities, as we continue to send manufacturing jobs overseas.
Continue reading "The latest word on Heparin contamination" »
One of the medical profession's most respected journals, the Journal of the American Medical Association, published an article this week examining the extent of "ghost-writing" that occurred in published Vioxx research. The authors unearthed evidence that documented the extent to which drug maker Merck wrote its own laudatory studies before lining up prestigious physicians to sign on to the final product as lead authors. The study authors and the editors of JAMA concluded that such ghost-writing is extremely common in the pharmaceutical field, in particular, and that medical journals should more carefully examine pharmaceutical research to detect undisclosed bias.
Continue reading "Big Pharma ghost-writes the scholarly articles published by MD "researchers"" »
At a conference last week held in New York City, retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor stated unequivocally that something must be done about special interests "buying" state judicial seats. In prior blog entries, we have pointed to this problem and identified the Chamber of Commerce, in particular, as a "purchaser" of "justice".
Continue reading "Justice O'Connor: "We put cash in the courtooms and it's just wrong."" »
In another sign that the people who run our country have no compassion for the less fortunate, a new co-pay system has been devised, passing on to patients enormous co-pays for the most expensive drugs.
Dr. Stafford recently authored an article objecting to the FDA's proposed new rules which would allow broader off-label drug use by easing restrictions on marketing drugs for off-label use. "Off-label" drug use is the term used when physicians (legally) prescribe a drug for a use that has never been scientifically supported and for which the drug was not expressly approved. Currently, physicians are allowed to exercise this discretion, however, drug reps are not allowed to promote off-label uses.
This proposed easing of regulations is yet another example of the Bush Administration's round-heeled approach to industry regulation and its coziness with the pharmaceutical industry, in particular. In short, the Bush Administration has yet to meet a henhouse that it wouldn't regulate by inserting a fox, and Dr. Stafford judiciously identifies the problems with this approach.
The FDA's role should be to assure that medications are used only where scientific data supports their use, and it should be the clearinghouse that controls the dissemination of accurate, balanced information on data. If it eschews this role and allows drug marketers who have a profit incentive to control the flow of information to harried doctors, no good can come to consumers.
The recent publication of the latest edition of the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care, (published by Dartmouth's Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice) compared the cost of health care at a number of top-notch institutions. Medicare spending for patients in the last two years of life at the top five teaching hospitals in the country showed quite a variance: from $93,000.00 per patient at UCLA and $85,000.00 at Johns Hopkins, to $53,000.00 per patient at the Mayo Clinic.
Are residents of the east and west coast generally sicker than midwesterners? Certainly the statistics on mortality and health care costs would not support that conclusion. So what explains the difference? First, the general cost of living in Baltimore and LA is higher than the cost of living in the Twin Cities; that probably plays a role. But the cost of living isn't double: the study found that services were priced relatively similarly.
Rather, the difference is primarily a function of UCLA and Hopkins providing more services and more in-patient days. Why does that occur if the patients are no "sicker"? Physicians at UCLA and Hopkins are paid on a fee-for-service basis; Mayo physicians are salaried: the incentives in the former institutions are all toward performing every possible service that can be justified. The incentive at Mayo is to tailor services to the patient--and no one claims that Mayo provides second-rate service.
Beware of the small print in your insurance contract: you can't negotiate the language or change it; but the insurer and some judges will strangle you with it.
Continue reading "Farm Bureau strikes again: "You expected us to pay a claim?"" »
As it turns out, all of the doctors involved in the lung cancer screening controversy had money coming in from somewhere. The two Weill Cornell doctors who recommended spiral CT scanning for lung cancer and suggested it would save lives had based their research on a 3.6 million dollar grant they received from the tobacco companies. Critics questioned whether their research conclusions might blunt the drive to reduce smoking by suggesting that it was "curable". On top of that influence, it turns out the two doctors would have received royalties from the licensing of General Electric diagnostic technology if screening were to be widely adopted.
The two outspoken critics of the Weill Cornell doctors also had a financial stake: one was a radiologist who received $30,000.00 from tobacco interests for testifying that screening had not been proven effective and should not be charged to tobacco companies. She put this money into a Medical School account at UCLA, according to the New York Times. The other physician was paid $700.00 to sign an affidavit summarizing the current research and concluding that unproven CT scan screening would not be advisable: the TImes reported that this doctor returned his affidavit money, but did not indicate whether it was before or after the controversy arose. Our conclusion: doctors can make a lot of money outside their medical practice when drugs and medical equipment are thrown in the mix.
In McCormick v. Carrier, two Court of Appeals judges applied the Michigan Supreme Court's recent interpretation of the "serious impairment" threshold to dismiss the claim of Mr. McCormick.
Continue reading "Another abusive "serious impairment" decision" »
A lawsuit has been filed by a number of knowledgeable "whistleblowers", criticizing the practice of dumping private disability claimants on the Social Security Disability system, in an effort to avoid paying purchased disability benefits.
Continue reading "Disability insurers abuse Social Security with frivolous claims" »
Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for teens between 15 and 20. We have seen enough of this carnage over the past 30 years to anecdotally confirm this statistic. The most dangerous time to ride with a young driver is after 10 pm, and a car with four teens driven by a sixteen-year old driver is more dangerous, statistically, than riding with a drunk. Several states, including Michigan, have responded to these statistics with "graduated" drivers licenses that limit young driver's privileges. These graduated programs have reduced teen deaths in the affected states by from 20 to 40 percent.
In an effort to eliminate "phantom" uninsured motorist claims, most insurers require that there be some corroborating evidence of "physical contact" with the insured vehicle. The "strict constructionists" in Seger v. Hartford read this requirement with such minute detail that striking a tree did not meet the contract terms and benefits were denied.
Continue reading "The object must hit your car: your car can't hit the object" »
New Jersey's highly political U.S. Attorney, Christopher Christie, recently changed the focus of his investigation from the manufacturers of orthopaedic devices, to the doctors who are paid to endorse or install them. His goal is to shed light on the significant "kickbacks" paid to some orthopaedic surgeons in return for using a particular company's product.
Continue reading "Effort to control "kickbacks" to doctors" »
The manufacturers of Cerezyme, a drug essential to the treatment of Gaucher disease, a rare, sometimes fatal disorder, charge more than $300,000.00 per year for the drug, according to the New York Times. By charging such high prices for a few patients (1,500 in the U.S., 5,000 total) the company generated revenues of 1.1 billion dollars in sales. This price is driven by market forces-not the cost of development. The company is exploiting a monopoly on the drug, despite the fact that most of the scientific research and development work on the drug was paid for by the federal government--which now pays again to purchase its own work product.
The arch-conserviative Justices hand-appointed by Governor Engler years ago struck again on March 7, denying health care providers the right to apply insurance payments to their oldest bills.
Continue reading "Michigan's "Gang of Four" acts again to protect insurers" »
Guess where the U.S. ranks in life expectancy? 45th, according to recent data, behind Bosnia and Jordan.
In infant mortality? We're last among developed countries.
The Commonwealth Fund, a health-care research group, ranks the U.S. last among major industrialized nations in health care quality, access and efficiency. We've talked in other weblog entries about how the lack of universal coverage affects even those who have excellent insurance: for just one example, the average waiting time in US emergency rooms for potential heart attack patients has almost tripled in the past ten years, as ERs have become clogged with uninsured patients with inadequate primary care and hospital beds are allocated to remunerative elective surgery.
While many have blamed malpractice litigation for the cost of medical care in the U.S., knowledgeable experts know that malpractice litigation is only a small part of the equation: they blame the system of remuneration we use to compensate for medical services. As third-party payors keep ratcheting down the payment for various services, the only way for an ambitious health care provider to increase his or her income is to provide more services. As a result, experts like Dr. Sandeep Jauhar, a cardiologist on Long Island, argue that physicians succumb to the demands of patients or their families' to turn over every stone-- to find answers or exclude potential problems--even if additional testing or care is neither necessary nor appropriate. Universal health care systems pay for results--or for "showing up", you could argue. Our market system pays for activity--whether it is useful or not--and efforts by auditors to assure that the activity is appropriate merely add an additional significant layer of expense to the entire system.
Most Michigan citizens would think that with all of the "reform" championed by the Republicans in the last twenty years, our no fault law would be "up-to-date". Boy, would they be mistaken.
Continue reading "Insurance limits, inflation and "reform"" »
In Suminski v. State Farm, the Michigan Court of Appeals, rejected State Farm's claim that it could enforce a "written consent" requirement in its uninsured motorist coverage, after State Farm waived the clause earlier in litigation.
Continue reading "This week it was State Farm's turn to be slapped down for over-reaching" »
This week, 5 executives, including the reinsurance manager of A.I.G., one of the country's largest insurers, were convicted on all 16 counts of a massive accounting fraud. The former chairman of A.I.G. was an unindicted co-conspirator. He denies involvement, despite having been forced out of the company as a result of the massive sham transaction. AIG has acknowledged that its scam to inflate its "reserves" by 500 million dollars was an improper attempt to increase its share value. In 2006 it agreed to pay 1.6 billion dollars to settle claims by state and federal regulators. AIG declined to comment on the verdict.
Observers of this week's argument before the U.S. Supreme Court over the massive oil spill caused by the Exxon Valdez warned that a majority of the Justices appeared willing to further reduce the punitive damage award against Exxon.
Continue reading "19 years, 3 weeks' lost profits, and a slap at victims by the Supreme Court?" »
Consumers claimed one small victory this week when Pfizer yanked its adds for Lipitor that featured Dr. Robert Jarvik. On every other front, it was a miserable week for ordinary people in the battle against Big Pharma.
Continue reading "A big week for big pharma; small victories and big losses for consumers" »
George Weeks, syndicated political columnist and staunch conservative, echoed the call for reform of the Michigan Supreme Court in Sunday's newspaper. He cited figures from the National Institute on Money in State Politics, showing that in 86 percent of all cases before the Michigan Supreme Court, at least one campaign contributor was involved. He also quoted the Michigan Campaign Finance Network's data showing that more than forty percent of the 23 million spent on Michigan Supreme Court campaigns since 2000 are unreported and undocumented.
Continue reading "Republican political columnist calls for Michigan Supreme Court reform" »
President Bush spent much of his two terms in office repaying favors to various industries that supported his election. One of the most substantial contributors to his elections was the medical/pharmaceutical industry, and that industry has also been a major beneficiary of his largesse. This week the Supreme Court upheld the legislation Bush's Administration sought and obtained, intended to immunize medical device manufacturers ifor injuries resulting from product defects, so long as the device had been approved by the FDA. A similar new law, addressing drugs approved by the FDA, will be before the Court soon.
Farm Bureau insurance has been very aggressive in attempting to enlist the activist Michigan judiciary in its campaign to deny insureds' purchased benefits. For example, it has been a leader in the effort to avoid paying any liability benefits under its policies, if the "negligence" of the wrong-doing insured is also "in the nature of a criminal act" (this vague policy phrase includes negligent discharge of a BB gun, negligently endangering a child, failing to take the door off an abandoned refrigerator, and dozens of other "crimes"). Michigan is about the only jurisdiction that allows such a broad interpretation of "criminal" acts in insurance policies, leaving many paying insureds without the coverage that they thought they had purchased. Recently, Farm Bureau took a slap-down from the Court of Appeals on two efforts to further restrict insured's rights.
Continue reading "Over-reaching Farm Bureau takes two hits in one week" »
Ever since the hand-appointed Engler Justices took control of the Supreme Court, the four Justices have controlled Michigan jurisprudence and displayed an activist drive to manipulate the law for the benefit of their insurance constituency. One of the Justices was even reported to have made a speech where he described he and his colleagues as allied with insurance tort "reformers" in a civil war with victims' attorneys. As a result, insurance companies have become more aggressive in attempting to restrict the rights and interests of their insureds. In the recent Klida v. Braman case, the Court of Appeals refused to countenance an effort by Farm Bureau to eliminate a child's right to sue.
A nationwide study published this month documented the fact that persons who don't have health insurance are more likely to be diagnosed with cancer in its later stages, frequently diminishing their chance for survival.
The Traverse City Record Eagle reported on February 19 that the American Judicature Society had criticized the Michigan Supreme Court for being "the only judges in the country who do not have rules that establish grounds for disqualification" according to the Campaign Finance Network.
Continue reading "More criticism of the Michigan Supreme Court" »
Bristol West has been a recent entry in the Michigan competition to see who can most aggressively abuse Michigan consumers. While no one can really compete with Allstate in this competition, Bristol West appears to be doing its best. This week it over-reached.
Continue reading "More over-reaching by Bristol West Insurance Company" »
New York's Attorney General and the AMA have filed separate lawsuits charging that a system used by insurers to calculate "reasonable and customary" charges is cheating customers and health care providers.
Continue reading "Ingenix: a system to rip-off insureds and doctors on "reaonable and customary"?" »
As a special favor to auto rental companies, several years ago our Republican legislature and governor included in their tort "reforms" a statute that limited the rental agencies' liability for negligent operation of a vehicle to $20,000.00. That special interest reform continues to cause problems for innocent victims who are injured by the sloppy rental practices of rental agencies and the greed of auto insurers.
Continue reading "Auto rental agencies' limited liability in Michigan" »
After the tragic Virginia Tech shootings, public officials were falling all over themselves with promises of legislation to make guns less available to felons and persons with severe psychiatric issues. This month, the NRA managed to defeat those efforts by blocking reform that would have regulated the sale of guns at weekend gun shows.
With a wealth of profits over the past few years, you may have noticed that Allstate Insurance is spending heavily to purchase goodwill by advertising in all manner of expensive venues. In particular, you may have noted that the nets that catch extra points and field goals on many televised football games carry Allstate's name, and the insurer also spends heavily on a particular black actor as their spokesman: he projects the face and voice of credibility on their behalf.
Unfortunately, with Allstate, credibility and sincerity are only skin deep--literally, only the depth of the actors they hire to front for the company. We have discussed this issue at some length previously (see the blog entry "Good hands or boxing gloves", in particular), and were reminded of the issue again recently when we saw reports of the insurance rate dispute currently under discussion in Florida.
Continue reading "The real Allstate Insurance Company: "outrageously greedy"..." »
The January 30 issue of the New York Times included a lengthy critique of the conflict of interest that has been uncovered with the artificial spinal disc "Prodisc". The artificial disc sells for about $10,000.00 and has generated significant profits for its manufacturers and investors, even though Medicare and many private insurers will not pay for its use or the expensive surgery to install it.
The Times reported that it has recently come to light that the medical researcher/doctors who endorsed the Prodisc and who were involved in the study that purportedly demonstrated its effectiveness were also investors in the product. Thus, there is substantial question whether they were neutral, objective researchers with regard to the effectiveness of the surgical installation or the analysis of the resulting data.
Continue reading "Low back pain: Controversy over back surgery and Prodisc" »
In recent years, knowledgeable critics have criticized Michigan malpractice insurers for failing to reduce their liability rates in response to the draconian "reforms" of the late 80s which significantly eroded consumer rights and victims' rights. Apparently in response to these criticisms, one Michigan insurer attempted to achieve maximum public relations value out of its recent decision to drop 2008 rates by about six percent. American Physicians Insurance Corporation, the malpractice insurer with the largest share of the Michigan market (about 30 percent) announced a rate cut of 6.5 percent.
Continue reading "More on Michigan malpractice "reform" and rate increases" »
If you have health insurance and were inclined to consider yourself protected from the problems facing the increasing proportion of uninsured Americans, consider this. A recent study undertaken through Harvard Medical School documented that the delay in obtaining treatment through an Emergency Room has increased substantially from 1997 to 2004. Regardless of insurance status, the average wait for all patients increased from 22 minutes in 1997 to 30 minutes in 2004. The interim for the sickest heart patients increased from 8 minutes in '97 to 20 minutes, on average. One-quarter of those patients waited 50 minutes or more, at a time when their triage diagnosis indicated that every minute of delay could be fatal or cause permanent harm.
Last year Johns Hopkins University published a report on a program that installed a simple five-step checklist in every ICU in Michigan. The checklist was an attempt to protect against infection, and it reminded doctors to do simple things like wash their hands thoroughly between patients, or to don sterile gloves and gown before inserting an IV. Past medical studies have identified a profound problem with basic sterility practices that has caused thousands of unnecessary hospital deaths.
The Hopkins' study generated remarkable results: within three months the rate of bloodstream infections from IV lines droppe by two-thirds. The average ICU cut its infection rate from 4 percent to zero. It is estimated that during the 18 months of its existence, the program saved more thatn 1500 lives and nearly 200 million dollars in medical treatment expense.
The Federal Office for Human Research Protection recently shut the Michigan program down, claiming that by introducing the checklist and tracking the results without patient and caregiver written consent, the study was unethical. Hopkins was unable to duplicate the Michigan program in New Jersey and Rhode Island, as had been planned. As medical ethicist and writer Atul Gawande noted, the federal government's decision threatens to improperly elevate theoretical scientific ethics above actual ethical medical care requirements.
Two new studies demonstrate even more forcefully that not having health insurance has a dramatic impact on health and wellness. The studies were published by the influential Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and Harvard Medical School, and by the American Cancer Society. Together they documented that because they cannot afford appropriate screeing and effective treatment, uninsured Americans have significantly poorer outcomes from cancer, coronary artery disease, and diabetes. The Harvard/JAMA study correlated the health of uninsured near-retirees with insured near-retirees and with elderly Americans who have universal coverage through Medicare. The decline in health of uninsured Americans as they approached retirement showed dramatic improvement when universal coverage became available to them.
The New York Times issue for December 24, 2007, published a provocative examination of the issue of elderly responsibility. It noted the spate of legislation in various states intended to address "elder abuse" and unethical marketing practices targeting the vulnerable elderly. These statutes in turn have spawned lawsuits (the Times counted about 700) attempting to hold someone else responsible for financial catastrophes suffered by willing but gullible elderly--some of whom have no clearly documented evidence of any form of dementia.
The Times noted that most states treat contracts made by young persons nearing adulthood as "voidable" and questions whether we will ultimately decide that long-lived but intellectually dependent seniors must have similar protections. It also noted, however, that most seniors would be repulsed by the threat of losing their independence and being forced to acquiesce in some form of custodial relationship--either with family or the government.
The Times' article carefully examined several cases where apparently-capable seniors were persuaded to make dreadful investments or financial decisions, resulting in the total loss of an otherwise secure financial future. As our population ages and controls an even greater percentage of the country's wealth, this issue will not go away and should receive further thoughtful consideration.
A recent analysis of dental care in the state of Kentucky constitutes either a sick joke or a sad commentary--depending on how you choose to interpret it. In an earlier memorandum on this site we talked about "third world dentristy" all too prevalent in America where growth in the number of expensive-to-educate dentists has not kept pace with demand. Analyzing dental needs in Kentucky adds to this picture.
According to recent studies, one in ten Kentucky residents have NO TEETH. This is because about the only dental care Medicaid will pay for is tooth extraction, and the cheapest form of dental care for diseased teeth in uninsured mouths is extraction. Couple that with a culture slow to abandon smoking and chewing tobacco, and a poor, aging, rural, uninsured population, and you have a recipe for dental disaster. Compound the problem further with restrictions on the practice of dentistry and denture-manufacture, problems with nutrition and metamphetamine use, and fully ninety-percent of the population have no teeth.
Statistics say only half of Kentucky residents have dental insurance. Most rural residents lack flouridation. Fewer than 25 percent of the state's dentists accept Medicaid patients, and Medicaid sacrificed all orthodontic care in the state in order to increase Medicaid benefits to approximately fifty percent of "market" rate among dentists.
An insurance industry spokesman acknowledged in a public press release this month that health coverage in this country needs to be reformed, and offered a band-aid suggestion to improve coverage for the 47 million people who do not have it. Apparently acting in response to the dozen or so states who are making dramatic reforms that might ultimately make health insurers irrelevant and the growing movement toward universal health coverage, the industry is suggesting minor reforms that would improve the ability of some individuals to buy or maintain coverage. In most cases, the industry's proposed response is to require states to subsidize coverage for expensive individuals or to require healthy individuals to purchase coverage that will underwrite other, more expensive [usually older] insureds.
While there may be a need for the latter forms of response, frankly, we don't see why a third-party health insurer need be involved at all: the presence of third-party insurers merely imposes an enormous administrative cost and interference between the payors and service providers. We think the smartest thing that has been said on this topic lately was John Edwards' frustrated claim that "the American health care system is broken because wealthy insurance corporations and their lobbyists have rigged the system against the American people."
With the cost of health coverage for a family running in the neighborhood of $1500.00 per month, per family, the assumption of employer-provided health coverage is becoming a myth for many and an anchor on the few employers who are struggling to preserve coverage. Something must be done before the cost of coverage strangles all American employers who must add this $20,000 dollar annual expense to the cost of products which must compete in the international market. Not long ago, a major auto manufacturer moved its new plant from Detroit out of the U.S., in order to assure that a foreign government would cover the cost of health care: it moved the new plant accross the Detroit River to Windsor, eliminating another few thousand middle class jobs from the Michigan and American economies.
