Commissioner wants to empower people

HEALTH INSURANCE

CHRIS LANDSBERGER/THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger describes her plan to help consumers deal with rising health insurance costs in the state during Thursday's meeting with The Topeka Capital-Journal editorial board.

By Amy Bauer

THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

With health insurance premiums rising almost 14 percent over the past year, many Kansans are likely to see their paychecks shrink next year as companies ask them to share more of the costs.

This week, Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger joined a growing movement to empower consumers in the face of skyrocketing prices. Her department unveiled a campaign called "Take Control" at the Kansas State Fair on Wednesday.

Praeger described the program to The Topeka Capital-Journal's editorial board during a visit Thursday, in which health care dominated the discussion.

"We're trying to educate consumers that there is a role for them to play in asking questions," Praeger said. "Consumers should be asking questions and (doctors) should be encouraging it."

"Take Control" advises people to practice healthy habits, ask about treatment options, avoid unnecessary diagnostic tests and ask for the generic equivalents of prescription drugs.

A national survey of 1,856 public and private employers found a 13.9 percent increase in health insurance premiums from spring 2002 to spring 2003, according to statistics released this week by the Kaiser Family Foundation, an independent research group in Menlo Park, Calif., and the Health Research and Educational Trust.

The increase is the largest since 1990 and marks a third year of double-digit percentage increases. On average, worker contribution for health insurance rose 8 percent for single coverage, to $42 a month, and 13 percent for family coverage, to $201 a month, according to the survey.

More than half of large employers --- 200 or more workers --- surveyed said they expect to raise the amount workers must pay for health insurance next year, and a few said they would reduce eligibility or drop coverage, survey results showed.

Two-thirds of the companies offered health coverage to their workers --- a slight decrease from the 69 percent who offered insurance in 2000. In 2003, 38 percent of all large companies offered health coverage to retirees, nearly unchanged from 2002 but down from a 1988 peak of 66 percent.

Amy Bauer can be reached at

(785) 295-1231 or amy.bauer@cjonline.com.

'TAKE CONTROL'

Consumer hotline:

(800) 432-2484

Insurance Department Web site: www.ksinsurance.org

HEALTH INSURANCE RATES

Average annual cost to employer, spring 2002-spring 2003:

Single coverage: $3,383

Family coverage: $9,068

Average annual cost to employee, spring 2002-spring 2003:

Single coverage: $508

Family coverage: $2,412

SOURCES: Kaiser Family Foundation and the

Health Research and Educational Trust

Copyright 2003
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.