How one hotelier’s bold break from the insurance status quo sparked a nationally recognized model for employee health care, community transformation and workforce stability.
Love this story by Bruce Shutan. In the early 1990s, I met Harris Rosen for a cover story that Steven Findlay wrote for Business & Health magazine about the great work Rosen was doing in Orlando. Steven and I were pleased to meet and interview Rosen in his Orlando hotel. Then a few years ago, I met Rosen again when AHCJ held its annual conference at his hotel. He was gracious, smart, and always seemed to be a step ahead of everyone else in health care. Sorry to hear that he died last year. May his memory be a blessing.
Joseph, thank for you for kind words. I interviewed Harris Rosen about seven years ago and was also very impressed by his commitments to not only employees and their families, but also the community at large. He was a rare icon in our business, deeply respected and supremely loved. His loss was heartbreaking, especially since he was in good health even into his latter 80s. I remember Business & Health very well. What an important magazine it was for many years.
Thank you for opening my eyes to something different! The Rosen system isn’t about PROFITS, it is about PEOPLE! If health care insurers were not for profits or non profits, our whole system could be reworked to make it actually work for the insureds instead of the insurers. Corporations are allowed (indeed, required) to make a profit, so most of us are stuck with the same old crap, while corporate bigwigs are paid millions and shareholders make huge profits. I wish more employers were like Rosen.
Elizabeth, I appreciate your comments and you're spot on: health care needs to place patients over profits and more corporations must aspire to do the incredible work of pioneers and visionaries like Harris Rosen, who was iconic in our industry and an amazing human being as evidenced in my story.
What a wonderful story and model! We need this type of reform throughout the health insurance industry! I just received notice from AARP United Health that my supplemental Medicare plan rate (not MA) is going up 23% in the next billing cycle. This far exceeds the cost of living and the rate of inflation. When I've asked why, their answer was unspecific and made zero sense. A 23% increase every year is outrageous. What other business is allowed to operate this way? We are trapped by this grossly cruel and greedy industry. It's simply unsustainable for most of us. We need a deep reset and reform in this industry now!
Shauna, I'm sorry to learn about your outrageous increase for that supplemental Medicare plan. There are so many loopholes built into the system that are stacked in favor of Big Insurance. This is especially egregious when you consider the effect on Medicare enrollees who are living on a fixed income and fear outliving their assets. Supplemental plans are designed to cover out-of-pocket expenses incurred within the so-called doughnut hole, but how on earth can policyholders be expected to afford doctor and hospital visits if their monthly premiums are beyond reach? Health Care Un-Covered is committed to running as many stories as possible to expose fraud, waste and abuse in hopes that meaningful reform eventually comes to this dysfunctional system.
This was a wonderful article at a time when our medical industrial complex continues to fail. It started a rabbit hole dive into this man and his healthcare model. Imagine healthcare that was about health instead of profit for shareholders.
Kim, this is why I love working with Wendell Potter whose whistleblower journey is helping cast a bright light on the moral and business imperatives behind our need to reform a perverse health care system that places profit ahead of patients.
Love this story by Bruce Shutan. In the early 1990s, I met Harris Rosen for a cover story that Steven Findlay wrote for Business & Health magazine about the great work Rosen was doing in Orlando. Steven and I were pleased to meet and interview Rosen in his Orlando hotel. Then a few years ago, I met Rosen again when AHCJ held its annual conference at his hotel. He was gracious, smart, and always seemed to be a step ahead of everyone else in health care. Sorry to hear that he died last year. May his memory be a blessing.
Joseph, thank for you for kind words. I interviewed Harris Rosen about seven years ago and was also very impressed by his commitments to not only employees and their families, but also the community at large. He was a rare icon in our business, deeply respected and supremely loved. His loss was heartbreaking, especially since he was in good health even into his latter 80s. I remember Business & Health very well. What an important magazine it was for many years.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful model for healthcare.
We all know for-profit private health insurance corporations are not about care.
Appreciate your appreciation, Susananda! You are preaching to the choir master.
Thank you for opening my eyes to something different! The Rosen system isn’t about PROFITS, it is about PEOPLE! If health care insurers were not for profits or non profits, our whole system could be reworked to make it actually work for the insureds instead of the insurers. Corporations are allowed (indeed, required) to make a profit, so most of us are stuck with the same old crap, while corporate bigwigs are paid millions and shareholders make huge profits. I wish more employers were like Rosen.
Elizabeth, I appreciate your comments and you're spot on: health care needs to place patients over profits and more corporations must aspire to do the incredible work of pioneers and visionaries like Harris Rosen, who was iconic in our industry and an amazing human being as evidenced in my story.
What a wonderful story and model! We need this type of reform throughout the health insurance industry! I just received notice from AARP United Health that my supplemental Medicare plan rate (not MA) is going up 23% in the next billing cycle. This far exceeds the cost of living and the rate of inflation. When I've asked why, their answer was unspecific and made zero sense. A 23% increase every year is outrageous. What other business is allowed to operate this way? We are trapped by this grossly cruel and greedy industry. It's simply unsustainable for most of us. We need a deep reset and reform in this industry now!
Shauna, I'm sorry to learn about your outrageous increase for that supplemental Medicare plan. There are so many loopholes built into the system that are stacked in favor of Big Insurance. This is especially egregious when you consider the effect on Medicare enrollees who are living on a fixed income and fear outliving their assets. Supplemental plans are designed to cover out-of-pocket expenses incurred within the so-called doughnut hole, but how on earth can policyholders be expected to afford doctor and hospital visits if their monthly premiums are beyond reach? Health Care Un-Covered is committed to running as many stories as possible to expose fraud, waste and abuse in hopes that meaningful reform eventually comes to this dysfunctional system.
Thank you for the kindness of your reply!
This was a wonderful article at a time when our medical industrial complex continues to fail. It started a rabbit hole dive into this man and his healthcare model. Imagine healthcare that was about health instead of profit for shareholders.
Kim, this is why I love working with Wendell Potter whose whistleblower journey is helping cast a bright light on the moral and business imperatives behind our need to reform a perverse health care system that places profit ahead of patients.
Wendell Potter another courageous man with integrity and compassion. Happy to know he has found a journalist with the same integrity and compassion.
Kim, I appreciate your kind words. Birds of a feather flock together!