Lil Honey Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 Hi everyone, I work in the office of a company who "provides" health care coverage to the employees. It is a very small company. The boss is actually on his wife's Blue Cross through her employer, because it's better coverage and it saves our company a little money anyway. The rest of the employees are union folks and we pay for their Blue Cross through the union benefits that we pay. Only a couple of people (here in the office) are covered directly through the company. Our insurance carrier said that Blue Cross (and other major health insurance companies) are REQUIRING copies of wage detail reports. FYI, wage detail reports list my name, social security number and my gross wages. I don't feel that it is anyone's business at Blue Cross how much money I make, since they are getting THEIR money. I'm in a position of having to decide to hand over the information - or not. I was told that by seeing the wage detail report, "they" can determine if the company is offering all the employees health coverage. I was told that "they" can see by the gross wage amount who is full time and who is part-time. Um . . . I'd like to know how they know that, because I work full time and make about one-third to one-quarter what someone working full time on the line at an automaker makes, yet we both work full time. Can you see my point? Am I being just too dog-gone stubborn? Am I making a mountain out of a molehill? Please give me your input . . . LH Link to post Share on other sites
magda Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 Your wage detail report would probably include the hours worked, no? Blue cross should have your SSN already anyway. Link to post Share on other sites
Lil Honey Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 Magda: The wage detail only has our names, SSNs and wages. It does not have the hours worked. Yes, BC/BS does have our SSNs. Basically, the wage detail report is supposed to coincide with other tax forms. (The total gross wages is to balance with other forms, but it always shows the breakdown of each individuals gross wages.) Soooo . . . what you are telling me is that I'm being an old stick-in-the-mud? LH Link to post Share on other sites
Butchey Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 Sounds to me like it is just a way for the insurance company to figure out how much they can get away with charging you. Corruption in this industry will bring about universal healthcare someday, hopefully. Good luck. Link to post Share on other sites
soccorsilly Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 Different states have different regulations. By looking at the information, the insurer can make a more accurate prediction of claims and hence the premium charged to the company. I would imagine that this info is provided by the company and am surprised you are involved in it anyhow. But if your company also offers a disability policy they will need to know what you made..can't claim a million dollar salary. Sex and age is for premium calculation---single guys under 26 are cheapest. Married women in their 30's and any woman over 50 are most expensive, so they look at the mix of members. My vote: stick in the mud! Give them the info...besides, in the US most of it is public information if someone wants to dig deep enough! Link to post Share on other sites
Lil Honey Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 Soccersilly: Why are you surprised that I am "involved in it anyway"? What is your meaning by that statement? Our company doesn't offer disability coverage, so there is no calculation necessary. The people that are covered with Blue Cross are a what is called a group and it is one lump sum that is paid out. Blue Cross has each individual's sex and birthdate (and that of their family members) anyway. Covering one family costs the same as covering another family within our group. Covering an individual - no matter the age, sex or lifestyle - costs the same as covering another individual within our group. It is true that if someone wants to know my income badly enough, they can dig for it . . . but then . . . let 'em take the time and effort to dig. Why should I give it to them? Especially since I don't see MY benefit. Thanks for the "stick in the mud" vote. It makes me feel good to know that I continue to NOT follow the crowd . . . LH Link to post Share on other sites
soccorsilly Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 "Involved in it anyway" was merely a statement that typically this is not handled on an individual basis. THe carrier requests the info and the company submits a survey or a report. It ipart of our group contract that we provide the information required to insure the group including but not limited to age, sex, wages, hours worked, etc. Since it is a condition of our contract, we just file the report--there is no notification to individual employees. As for the insurability of the group, different states have different regulations. In MD our premiums are so high because the state regulated that it must be determined statewide--and not company wide. I own a business with few employees and not a lot of claims. However, my premium is exactly the same (for the family or individual) as a company loaded up with employees suffering from every ailment in the book. Most other states, will underwrite based on history of a particular company and industry. When you can underwrite that, the hours and wages come into play. Hours--how many hours are you out of work that you might become injured or sick? Wages, are you able to support a lavish/riskier lifestyle...if you are making the big bucks, you might be skydiving, scuba diving, traveling a lot, etc. All this is taken into account by the underwriters. And the "stick in the mud"--well you said it first! Link to post Share on other sites
Lil Honey Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 Welp, I'm not handling it on an individual basis. I am handling it on a company wide basis. Our claims are high also because Blue Cross insures for all sorts of lifestyles, incomes, ages, etc. Nothing new there. The higher costs of health insurance has been a big deal in all industries, especially small companies, because they don't get the discounts that huge companies (like the three automakers) get. Yes, I did say, "stick in the mud" first. I took no offense to your agreement of it. BTW, this is something new and I'm simply trying to understand. As a matter of fact, I have a friend who works in an insurance agency that also offers BC and she has not heard of the requirement yet. Link to post Share on other sites
stumt Posted September 21, 2004 Share Posted September 21, 2004 The reason that is nessecary is because they're compiling a census for your company. It is mandotory. I work for a broker and do them all the time. They insurance company doesn't do it for any other reason, other than to simply compile a census. Link to post Share on other sites
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