North Carolina's corrupt politics screw state employee health
Posted Apr 23 2009 12:33am
There is no other way to put it. Corruption and special interest groups have won and now North Carolina will be the first state to put all employees into the most expensive insurance plan unless they prove that they don’t smoke and meet certain body mass index thresholds.
No other state in the nation actually cuts the benefits of state employees if they are caught smoking. Only Alabama charges state workers more because of BMI scores.
So not only are state employees unsure if they will have jobs in the future, waiting to find out if pay cuts or furloughs are pending but not they will be faced with random blood and breathalyzer tests. BMI will be measured and this is being sold under the guise of wellness.
Add that to the obvious protection that was put in place thanks to the pharmacists lobby.
And even the State Representatives are not permitted to read the contracts. Finally to add insult to injury this is not going to save the Health Plan any money. It will negatively effect the health of State Employees and increase the premiums because with higher and higher copays people will delay preventative care.
The Washington Post published an article two days ago about North Carolina's high rate of uninsured. Maybe they'll write another one about this.
No other state in the nation actually cuts the benefits of state employees if they are caught smoking. Only Alabama charges state workers more because of BMI scores.
So not only are state employees unsure if they will have jobs in the future, waiting to find out if pay cuts or furloughs are pending but not they will be faced with random blood and breathalyzer tests. BMI will be measured and this is being sold under the guise of wellness.
There was been massive controversy, well covered by the News and Observer, about Blue Cross Blue Shield's sweetheart processing fees. The not for profit paid out over 7 million dollars in bonuses which is probably fair compensation seeing that they gave over $600,000 dollars in political donations.Add that to the obvious protection that was put in place thanks to the pharmacists lobby.
And even the State Representatives are not permitted to read the contracts. Finally to add insult to injury this is not going to save the Health Plan any money. It will negatively effect the health of State Employees and increase the premiums because with higher and higher copays people will delay preventative care.
The Washington Post published an article two days ago about North Carolina's high rate of uninsured. Maybe they'll write another one about this.