Legalized extortion

Something absolutely must be done about the legalized extortion suffered by senior citizens at the hands of health insurance companies. My wife and I have been customers of our health insurance company for seven years. In the first five years, our premiums were increased an average of 18.5 percent per year, despite the fact that the cost of living increased less than 3 percent per year.

Two years ago, when our insurance company informed us that our annual premiums would be $14,400 plus a $2,000 deductible for two healthy 58-year-olds, we knew something had to be done. So we converted our policy to a Health Savings Account (HAS), which cut our premiums to $593 per month, with a self-funded deductible of $6,000 per year. That was an instant saving of almost $4,000 per year.

It appeared that we were doing everything we could to maximize our health care dollars - or so we thought. This past week, our insurance company informed us that our 2010 premiums were being increased to $10,620 per year plus a $6,000 deductible for a total of $16,620 per year. To add insult to injury the vultures haven't had to spend a dime on us since we started the HSA two years ago. Yet, they have the unmitigated gall to raise our premiums 49 percent in the same two-year time frame; so much for "health savings!"

If our insurance company continues to jack up our premiums at the same rate, our so-called "Health Savings Account" will cost us $3,286 per month or $39,432 per year by the time we qualify for Medicare in five years. That is preposterous and should be illegal! I don't know if Obamacare is the answer or not but something simply has to be done to keep untold millions of senior citizens from having to file bankruptcy due to the greed of health insurance companies.

Ronald Carmony
Sebring