In this installment of Profiles in Health Care, New Hampshire Public Radio's Josh Rogers visits with a small business owner in Belmont who offers a cautionary tale on several fronts.
New Hampshire, along with every other state, has many people without health insurance. About 70% of them have jobs, and of that group, over a third work in very small businesses.
Getting more companies to offer health insurance is an idea that appeals to many of the presidential candidates. But according to a state study, that could be a difficult sell. Over half of the small firms that don't offer insurance now say they never will.
In this installment of Profiles in Health Care, New Hampshire Public Radio's Josh Rogers visits with a small business owner in Belmont who offers a cautionary tale on several fronts.
Hard by Lake Winnisquam?s eastern shore??on a stretch of route 3 where merchants purvey everything from skis??and appliances, to tires and suntans?.62 year old Ed Clifford has for the past 15 years??.sold pizza.
?I?ve got mushroom, bacon and pepperoni???
The menu at Winnisquam Pizza also features a full complement of grinders??.and a panoply deep fried fare.
Grease noise??.
And until fairly recently the man behind the Frialator was perhaps also the Restaurant?s best customer??.
?I was 417 pounds?..now I?m 326??and I?ve got another hundred to go?.?
Ed Clifford says until last spring?.he was eating his way to the grave?Clifford says things reached rock bottom on April 14, when an infection caused by Cellulitis left him semi-conscious and unable to get out of bed.
?It was embarrassing??I mean the poor ambulance attendants, when they were picking me up?.said oh my got do we have an elephant here?.As sick as I was I could hear them??And then when I got to the hospital they had to send out for a special bed because I was so big.?
Clifford stayed in the hospital for a week??.and spent the next month attached to an IV bag at home??He said the experience was difficult?.but it?s not the first heath setback he?s wethered.?In 2000, Clifford was diagnosed with bladder cancer?.After radiation treatment and chemotherapy ?..that?s now in remission?..What is unremitting, however is the pressure of paying his heath care costs.
?I still pay to the hospital money that I owe them?.and to Lakes Region?s physicians??Lakes Region radiology??Elliot Hospital??.umm?.life plus?..I think that?s about it?..I paid down Laconia clinic?..finally.?
Clifford says he has no precise idea of either what he owes or how much he or his insurance company has spent on his care??But he pegs the cost of buying his prescription drugs, plus his monthly insurance premium ??and paying down old bills in 20 dollar installments at about 1500 dollars a month. He says that outlay is eating away his savings??.and has made it far more difficult for him to weather the seasonal fluctuations inherent to the lakes region economy?..But all in all??Clifford insists he?s been well served by the system.
?I really had no problem??I went everywhere I had to go?The doctors I ran into?.were great doctors?.they were willing to accept partial payments?..and I can?t say enough for my insurance company?..they did all they could do too.?
But maintaining his insurance coverage hasn?t been easy??He says his premiums have doubled in the past five years. On top of that,??every year the first $2500 of his bills come out of his own pocket?..Those costs have put Clifford?s business on the edge of solvency??Winnisquam Pizza could be a poster child for the many small firms that don?t offer health insurance to their employees??Getting these people coverage is the focus of many Presidential heath care proposals??Ed Clifford doesn?t see how the numbers could ever work..
?It?s impossible??.We?re basically minimum wage employees?..you know and the average worker would cost three hundred something a month to cover their family?..you can?t expect them to kick in on what they earn?..you can?t expect me to pay the whole thing either.?
Clifford notes, however, that his workers do get basic heath care because they qualify for Heathlink, a low-income heath service run by the Lakes Region General Hospital. ??.He adds that he himself would also likely qualify for such assistance??but says he?s not interested in taking what he considers to be a handout.
?I have the ability to work??when I don?t have the ability to work?..then I?ll go to some organization and I?ll get on my hands and knees and plead for help?..but until that day comes I?ll pay my own way.?
Self-reliance is something Ed Clifford tends to stress when he talks about healthcare??..But he gives the notion a different spin depending on the context??When talking about health care?s rising costs, Clifford is quick to blame those individuals who he says are cheating??.These include people who hide their assets to gain public assistance??.and also people who file frivolous lawsuits??
?That bothers me because that?s ill-gotten money?.and ill-gotten money doesn?t do anybody any good?..it just makes it more expensive for everybody else?.?
But another way to think of heath care costs is to look at what keeps people healthy??According to the Center for disease control, personal decisions determine health status more than anything else?.That includes whether to eat too much?..to smoke?..or to drink to excess?..many people argue that the path to lower costs for everyone is to create incentives and disincentives so that people will live healthier lives?..?..That logic doesn?t sit well with Ed Clifford.
?I believe we?re all equal??and some people are inclined to be heavy?..and some people like to smoke?.But even if you didn?t smoke?.or you were at good weight whose to say you are not going to walk out the door and get hit by a car?..So you are about the same risk as the guy who weighs 400 pounds and doesn?t walk out the door and doesn?t get hit by the car.?
Clifford says that he?s hopes he won?t be run down anytime soon.?.But in any event, he plans to stick to his diet???
?I don?t intend to stopping until I lose another hundred pounds?..I?m going to do it??It?s my goal?.?
He says he also keep his customers satisfied.
?You want the roast pork dinner, or the meat loaf??
