We are well into the new “era” with many changes on the horizon for our Illinois health insurance system and for the economy. The real question perhaps is this: “Is it true that the more things change, the more they remain the same?”
It’s difficult to tell yet whether or not the changes made to tweak the economy will pay off in a big and positive way later. Trying to revitalize something that has been struggling along and looking sickly for many years is not going to happen overnight. Furthermore, changes to the health system, also long overdue, will not necessarily make an enormous difference once they have been implemented either.
The reason for change taking time largely has to do with the nature of the systems that need to be fixed. They are huge, all encompassing, all pervasive, and have “always been there” in one form or another since – well, actually no one remembers when. Our economy and our health insurance system have grown with the nation to meet its needs, until the nation finally outstripped the abilities of the health system to keep up with it.
Over time the Illinois health insurance system became overburdened, overused, and overwhelmed. The costs started to go up to keep pace with all the people using and, yes, abusing it; there were times when the ER became the easiest answer for the common cough and cold. To a certain extent this is still the case. However, with the looming advent of medical e-health records, this may start to change.
Other changes coming as of the 1st of June 2010 will see two different closed risk pools created with the old and the new Medicare supplements. Actually, the new isn’t really new; it is the old but has a new start date for those buying Illinois health insurance. Confusion will reign when this change comes into effect and those in the old pool will wonder what the differences are for those in the new pool and vice versa. In reality, there are likely not going to be many new changes.
The reason for this coming change is that it will hopefully drive down the cost of health insurance due to the competition for health insurance customers. At least in the beginning and generally speaking, closed risk pools drive the costs of premiums up.
Change is good, change is needed, but change does not happen overnight and this is something that we all need to remember when faced with frustrating new things in the Illinois health insurance system. The changes should ultimately make a difference in the long run, not just for us, but also for the next generation. While the health system may be a rather large political football, the ball is in play; we need to wait and see where it lands before we will know the final score of the game.
Randy Gillespie is with Illinois health insurance agency, Focus Insurance Group. To learn more about Illinois health insurance, Illinois health insurance quotes, Illinois group health insurance or to get an Illinois health insurance quotes, visit Focusinsgroup.com
