By JOSHUA FREED, AP Business Writer
Part-time workers, contractors, and early retirees who usually wouldn’t qualify for corporate health insurance could get coverage under a plan announced Thursday by a consortium of dozens of large companies.
The HR Policy Association said about 25 companies, including Ford Motor Co., International Business Machines Corp., and Sears Roebuck and Co. planned to offer the coverage.
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The premiums will vary. A 28-year-old man in Phoenix would pay about $100 a month for coverage of scheduled inpatient and outpatient visits and hospitalization, according to an example given by the coalition. A 38-year-old woman in Chicago would pay $166.59 a month for the same insurance if she included maternity coverage, or $395 a month for a major medical policy.
UnitedHealth spokesman Mark Lindsay said the company is offering the coverage to shrink the number of uninsured, estimated at 45 million.
“We’re not doing it to be profitable. We’re doing because we realize that having 45 million people uninsured is terrible for the health care system. Period.”
Ha. Ha. Ha.