Plan offers small businesses health insurance

Four local health systems are teaming up with Wayne County to offer a low cost small business health insurance program, in an effort to address the growing number of uninsured Wayne County residents.



The program, called Wayne County Four Star Health, splits three ways a $168 monthly premium for qualified enrollees among the employer, employee and a nonprofit community group. Enrollees are restricted to what health systems they can use, but are not required to have a primary care doctor.



Rick Nowakowski, the Four Star administrator, said the program is similar to one Wayne County already offers called HealthChoice . But with 250,000 uninsured residents in Wayne County, he said there's enough need for both programs to co-exist.



"(Lack of insurance) is a problem across the country," Nowakowski said. "With the way the cost of health insurance has increased over the past 15 years due to increased technology and the aging of the population, it's increasingly gotten less affordable for a number of businesses."



Bob Cardoni, owner of Cardoni's Bar & Grill in Detroit, knows how challenging health insurance can be.



The Dearborn resident used to offer his employees insurance through Wayne's HealthChoice program until he lost eligibility because he didn't have enough employees who wanted coverage. Cardoni has roughly six employees but only a couple want health care coverage.



"It's a big challenge," Cardoni said. "It's expensive, especially for small businesses. You're not talking about Ford Motor Company, where you have deep pockets."



Created by St. John Health System, the Detroit Medical Center, Henry Ford Health System and Oakwood Healthcare System along with Wayne County, the Four Star program will cater to small businesses with between two and 49 employees. To qualify, businesses must have two-thirds of their workforce living in Detroit, pay $12 an hour or less to half their staff, and meet other criteria.



Nowakowski said Four Star is accepting applications now and enrollment will begin in September. He expects to enroll up to 5,000 uninsured employees in its first year.