Dear Madame HR, I have a question about benefits. My company’s plan year began on July 1st and guess what? For the third year in a row they have switched our carrier again! Why do they keep doing that to us? To make matters worse, I had made a doctor’s appointment for this week with a pediatrician for my 2 young kids. It took me forever to get this appointment with this doctor at a time both me and my wife could go. Well, guess what again? I didn’t get my new insurance card in time for the appointment. When I called my HR Department to ask what to do, I literally heard the HR Manger in the background tell the person I was on the phone with “tell him not to go to the doctor!” I am stunned, and apparently screwed. What do I do now? –Why do they hate me? Dear Mr. Why, Not to be technical, but you started by saying you have A question and then proceeded to ask me 5 questions. But that’s ok, I can take it, keep it coming! I will answer your many questions in order: Question 1: Guess what? I don’t know, chicken butt? Question 2: Why do they keep doing that to us? Money honey. There is nothing worse in the whole wide world than trying to convince a CFO to accept a double digit increase in benefit premiums. It’s ridiculous, outrageous, but benefit carriers get away with highway robbery. And they love to throw out the dreaded phrase Obamacare as a reason to justify these increases. I don’t know, maybe it is going to cost them 20% more to administer the quagmire that Obama and Congress has thrust upon us. Maybe, but I don’t buy it. And, to be honest, I don’t really know that much about it, it just doesn’t make much sense to me. Especially since as an employer, most of the burden is on YOU, but maybe I’m missing something. It doesn’t matter though, for purposes of answering your question. Carriers are notorious in my experience for giving you a really great “introductory” price to get companies to sign up and then in year or two, it’s rate hike city. Companies counteract this by looking for that next carrier who wants to give them that next “introductory” price and so begins the dance. Eventually it all catches up with you and carriers don’t want to touch your jumpy ass with a ten foot pole, but until that happens, hop away I say! Depending on your rate structure, your company demographics, etc., etc., etc., I don’t know, blah, blah, blah. The bottom line is that no matter how annoyed you are right now, I’m sure your HR Department is equally annoyed. It’s not easy to administer a carrier switch. If you have a big company, aren’t automated, have lots of employees who are pregnant or annoying or both, this gets even worse. I don’t know if it helps, but this is the reason, there you go. Question 3: Guess what again? Jeez, I don’t know again, I’m going to stick my original answer: Chicken butt. Question 4: What do I do now? Don’t get mad at me but I literally laughed out loud at your story of what your HR Manager said when you called asking for help so you could take your kids to the doctor. I mean, if I had been you, I would have been PISSED, but since I’m not you, I thought it was pretty amusing. Usually I try to defend the HR Manager in situations like this, but in this one, it’s hard. I could give her the benefit of the doubt and say she was joking. But I don’t think you thought it was funny, and it doesn’t seem like she then called you back and told you the real...