MediaWatch: September 1994
Table of Contents:
A Healthy Solution
Bucking the horror story trend of health care reporting, the August 15 NBC Nightly News "America Close-Up" segment focused on how one company is actually succeeding in its fight to provide affordable health insurance to its workers.
Irving R. Levine looked at Forbes magazine, where President Malcolm Forbes Jr. explained that health insurance costs were soaring because "everyone felt that someone else was paying for it. So there was no direct link with a person's behavior." So, Levine reported, "three years ago Forbes came up with a plan, offering employees personal profits to cut health insurance costs." Medical Savings Accounts (MSA) are a concept that's incorporated into several free-market oriented health reform bills currently before Congress. Employees pay small medical bills out of pocket through their MSA, thereby reducing the number of insurance claims filed. Levine explained, "At the start of the year, Forbes sets aside $1,300 for each employee, it's a year-end bonus if the worker files no [health] insurance claims. When a worker does file a claim the amount is deducted from the worker's bonus."
Levine noted, "The plan has resulted in big savings for Forbes. Because of the drop in the number of claims, the Cigna Insurance Company has reduced Forbes' premiums. The savings amounted to $426,000, more than covering the $300,000 paid out in health care bonuses." Giving a peek into how the threat of government regulation can actually hinder health reform, Levine cautioned: "Other companies are interested, but are waiting to make sure that Congress, in voting on health care, doesn't rule out such plans, even though at Forbes, everyone agrees it's a plan only with winners."
