Small Business Owners Hope for Affordable Healthcare

Small businesses across the state are still hoping for a new way to provide affordable healthcare for employees, and the South Carolina Health Cooperative has been working to make that happen.

Robert Kouvolo, President of Maximum Potential Training in Easley, is one of 5,000 initial members of the healthcare co-op who is hoping for approval by the S.C. Department of Insurance.

Kouvolo was ready for retirement in 2008 when he sold his interest in a company he helped create. A struggling economy and costly health insurance premiums forced him back into a tight job market. 

When he began looking for a job in early 2009, the 61-year-old Easley resident found his experience and knowledge in the field of corporate logistics weren't outweighing his age in the eyes of potential employers.

"After a while I got frustrated, I started looking back at what I enjoyed doing," Kouvolo said. "I settled on training."

Kouvolo partnered with John Cole and his son Ryan to launch MaxPT, a company that helps employers implement better training programs for their employees.

"I did it out of necessity," Kouvolo said. Launching his own business took some pressure off the need for income, but Kouvolo soon found it wasn't going to be enough.

When his Cobra insurance coverage expired, Kouvolo and his wife entered the South Carolina Health Insurance Pool, and has found the cost to be too steep to maintain.

"I pay $2,500 [a] month for my wife and I to have health insurance," Kouvolo said. The S.C. Health Insurance Pool rates are listed on the S.C. Department of Insurance website.

Coupled with the extremely high deductible of $1,500 each and a maximum out-of-pocket expense of $5,000 per year, Kouvolo decided to look for another way.

In January, Kouvolo read an article about the South Carolina Health Cooperative, and decided to contact them. After learning more about the efforts of the co-op CEO Cooper Littlejohn, Kouvolo signed up to be part of the first round of participants in the cooperative.

Littlejohn began working to organize the cooperative with headquarters in Irmo, S.C., in 2009 after the S.C. General Assembly approved the creation of health insurance cooperatives in 2008.

"I learned of the legislation and the opportunities it provides for small businesses when I was working as an intern for an insurance firm in Seneca," Littlejohn said in a recent email to Easley Patch. 

"It seemed to me that this new option offered a unique opportunity for small businesses to offer affordable, manageable health insurance to their employees."

The cooperative license was finally granted in November 2010.

"One reason the process initially took so long was that this was an entirely new concept in health insurance in our state, and it was understandable that there would be a lot of uncharted territory that had to be addressed," Littlejohn said.

Since the license was granted, the cooperative has processed thousands of applications from eager business owners and employees.

"Our projections indicated that we only needed 2,000 members for the co-op to be successful, but we well exceeded that, with 5,000 for the first enrollment, and even more who have expressed interest in future enrollment periods," Littlejohn said.

The cooperative has now found an insurer willing to offer insurance to the cooperative's 5,000 members. Now all they need is approval from the state.

"Even though this insurer is licensed to do business in South Carolina, the S.C. Department of Insurance has not yet agreed to approve the insurer for the South Carolina Health Cooperative," Littlejohn said.

Littlejohn has identified $4.7 million in savings for the current members and stable rates for the next five years, figures that are difficult to let go of.

"We have urged the Department of Insurance to provide us with the path to approval, and we are awaiting their answer," Littlejohn said.

Littlejohn informed members of the difficulties he has had gaining approval in a newsletter he sent in August. Kouvolo began making calls, first to the State Insurance Director David Black, and then to State Sen. Larry Martin.

"I was surprised when I got a call about this," Martin said. "I told Cooper 'Absolutely, sign me up,' I don't understand what the hold-up is."

Martin said there are obvious requisites that need to be followed, including a certain amount of reinsurance the cooperative would need, but the amount of savings for South Carolina businesses and employees should make this a priority.

"It's important to have that option as a small business person to be able to join a larger entity," Martin said. "It provides businesses with less than 10 employees to get healthcare coverage they wouldn't be able to get ordinarily."

Martin explained that access to affordable health coverage in the long run will drive down healthcare costs in the state. Martin said he plans on following up with the department of insurance to make certain his voice is heard on the issue.

Ann Roberson, a spokesperson for the South Carolina Department of Insurance told Easley Patch there are currently no health co-op plans in place, and it has been a challenge for them to get the first one up and running.

"For any health cooperative plan to be operational it must first comply with both state and federal law," Roberson said in a recent email to Easley Patch. "We continue to work with Mr. Littilejohn and the SC Health Cooperative to ensure that this occurs."

The cooperative hopes to get an answer from the department of insurance in the near future, and Kouvolo and thousands of other South Carolina residents remain hopeful.

"The Department of Insurance has the opportunity to work with us to resolve any questions and approve the co-op," Littlejohn said.

"If they do not take the opportunity to approve the co-op, we have other options to consider that would still provide our members with savings and stability, so we are hopeful that we can provide an effective insurance program."