The Hunt For Affordable Health Insurance
source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106469200
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Insurance broker Brian Urban couldn't believe his ears. A caller told him about our NPR story that claimed a small business owner in Nebraska couldn't afford health insurance because premiums would cost him $24,000 to $40,000 a year.
"Just the size of the numbers was far out of what the market would dictate even for someone with some severe medical conditions," Urban recalls. "And according to the story, these were healthy individuals."
Urban knows the Nebraska health insurance market because he's CEO of Corporate Resource Group, an insurance brokerage in Omaha, Neb. Urban is also the Nebraska legislative chairman for the National Association of Health Underwriters.
The mind-boggling premiums were described by Larry Harbour, the 33-year-old owner of LB Custom Chrome and Detail in Broken Bow, Neb. He had done the best he could to try to convey the confusing and complex quotes he had gathered while searching for affordable insurance. And he was very happy to get a phone call from Urban, who offered to help Harbour get to real and affordable numbers.
"It's very confusing," Harbour says of the health insurance search. "It's very tough to understand unless you have someone, so to speak, holding your hand, walking you through the process."
The phone call from Urban was the first of several aimed at finding affordable insurance for Harbour and his family.
"According to the story, he was uninsured, and I don't find that acceptable," Urban says. "It's my job to make sure as many people are as insured as possible."
Urban also wanted to set the record straight. He didn't want wild and inaccurate premiums affecting the health insurance debate.
"We're not opposed to reform," Urban adds. "It's just that we want to make sure we're dealing with real-life facts and numbers and we focus that reform in the areas it's truly needed."
"Just the size of the numbers was far out of what the market would dictate even for someone with some severe medical conditions," Urban recalls. "And according to the story, these were healthy individuals."
Urban knows the Nebraska health insurance market because he's CEO of Corporate Resource Group, an insurance brokerage in Omaha, Neb. Urban is also the Nebraska legislative chairman for the National Association of Health Underwriters.
The mind-boggling premiums were described by Larry Harbour, the 33-year-old owner of LB Custom Chrome and Detail in Broken Bow, Neb. He had done the best he could to try to convey the confusing and complex quotes he had gathered while searching for affordable insurance. And he was very happy to get a phone call from Urban, who offered to help Harbour get to real and affordable numbers.
"It's very confusing," Harbour says of the health insurance search. "It's very tough to understand unless you have someone, so to speak, holding your hand, walking you through the process."
The phone call from Urban was the first of several aimed at finding affordable insurance for Harbour and his family.
"According to the story, he was uninsured, and I don't find that acceptable," Urban says. "It's my job to make sure as many people are as insured as possible."
Urban also wanted to set the record straight. He didn't want wild and inaccurate premiums affecting the health insurance debate.
"We're not opposed to reform," Urban adds. "It's just that we want to make sure we're dealing with real-life facts and numbers and we focus that reform in the areas it's truly needed."
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