How Might Health Insurance Change for Travel Agents in 2018?
经过Richard D'Ambrosio/
For many travel agents, health insurance coverage is one of their top three expenses, costing thousands of dollars a year, and can have an impact on how advisors pursue their careers.
在一个行业,人口多的small businesses, it’s an even greater burden than for most entrepreneurs.
拥有独立承包商的小型机构Boomerang Escapes的Lisa Wood Rossmeissl已离婚,仅通过其代理业务才能拥有健康保险。Wood Rossmeissl总部位于新泽西州的Old Bridge,与Amerihealth有一个单人计划,她每月支付573美元,50美元的Copay和1,500美元的扣除扣除额。
她限制了目前的医疗访问,以帮助保持生活费用。她说:“我每年只去看医生一次,但在发生严重事故或疾病的情况下,我会保留它。”
特工达比·萨瓦斯塔(Darby Savasta)是马萨诸塞州曼斯菲尔德(Mabeplay银行卡nsfield)的达比目的地的所有者,每月支付578美元,扣除赔偿$ 1,000。她的孩子们按照她的前丈夫的医疗计划。
尽管每月溢价很高,但曾经从事过医疗费用工作的萨瓦斯塔(Savasta)认为自己很幸运能在马萨诸塞州生活和工作,因为她在其他州看到和听到了。“我有五到六个保险选择。某些州的某些人发现自己只有一种选择。”
在加利福尼亚州,特工凯西·塞弗特(Kathy Seifert)在过去几年中,她与Kaiser Permanente的三人计划每年支付25%的保费。她和她的丈夫都是自雇人士,目前每月支付850美元的基本覆盖范围,并带有12,000美元的免赔额。
“So, it's basically only for major health issues, which luckily we're not affected by at this point,” she said.
Agents Lisa Chambers Fletcher and Margie Lenau also pay for plans with high deductibles. “I would love to know if there is a resource I'm missing,” Chambers Fletcher said. “I self-insure with Blue Cross/Blue Shield and my monthly premium is $562, just for myself. My policy is pre-Obamacare and I've actually been pretty lucky with annual increases. For 2018, it is going up only $4 per month — whew!”
Lenau is expecting a $50 per month increase this year with her United Healthcare plan, carrying a $7,500 deductible.
在某些情况下,健康保险的必要性和成本使一些旅行社无法完全追求自己的职业。
詹妮弗·赫伯特(Jennifer Herbert)在弗吉尼亚县政府办公室全职工作,每月为丈夫和她自己支付36美元,可抵扣150美元。“我的健康保险是我不全职旅行的主要原因。我有拥有自己的企业的朋友,每月支付1,000美元的健康保险。”她说。
Lisa Costa, Freehold, New Jersey, also works her travel business part-time due to health insurance. “It is very disheartening because my love and passion is in my travel business but I could never afford, with three children, to pay out monthly for health care,” she said, adding how her husband is self-employed. “I have always carried the family health benefits.”
2018会带来变化吗?
Agents facing steep health insurance costs are hoping that 2018 might represent a year where states and the federal government finally take the steps necessary to reduce the burden.
特朗普在12月下旬签署的税收法案中,可能会影响美国医疗保健的规定,医疗改革仍然是国会进入现任政府第二任期的最高议程项目。
1月初,劳工部发布了拟议的法规,该法规将允许像旅行社这样的小型雇主从贸易协会中更轻松地购买其健康保险。目前,由于州和联邦法律,协会健康计划(AHP)难以管理。
The National Retail Federation (NFR) has backed AHP legislation in Congress, saying it would help small businesses (like travel agencies) compete with large companies in providing employee health insurance at affordable rates.
马萨诸塞州零售商协会主席乔恩·赫斯特(Jon Hurst)在2017年的房屋教育和劳动力委员会听证会上代表NRF作证,称自2012年以来由他的团队运行的计划能够“直接影响5,000多名工人的承保费用”287个小型企业。
一些专家认为,拟议的劳工部规则还将允许保险公司销售价格较低的计划,该计划也提供了较低的承保范围。
However, for older agents, there is a growing concern that Medicare costs could rise.
In a December letter to Congress from AARP CEO Jo Ann C. Jenkins, that organization expressed concern about how a projected $1.5 trillion deficit created by the 2018 tax cuts would lead to an automatic cut of $25 billion in Medicare funding this year.
Jenkins said AARP believes those cuts “would have an immediate and lasting impact, including fewer providers participating in Medicare and reduced access to care for Medicare beneficiaries.”
幸运的人
Many full-time agents, like Melissa Cornett Moatts, owner at Travel with Melissa in Peach Bottom, Pennsylvania, are married and have the benefit of a spouse’s employer’s health insurance coverage.
“我的丈夫从军队中退休,所以我们很幸运拥有负担得起的医疗保健。健康保险从来都不是我的旅行业务的一个因素。我感到非常幸运,”莫特斯说。
Susie Cleary Chau, founder at Dabble in Travel, Chicago, had a high deductible plan with a company where she worked. She paid under $70 a month for medical, vision and dental, before she finally decided to take the leap into running her travel business full-time. Her husband, being employed full-time with medical coverage, made that decision easier.
“I recognize I'm in a very fortunate position. I have consulted for a healthcare insurance company for a couple years and it's a challenging time for people,” Chau said, adding that she would like to see host agencies and consortia have the ability to offer health insurance to their agents.