Inside Look at The Herbfarm's Health Insurance Plan

Here is a rare look at health insurance economics in a small restaurant setting. Yesterday, The New York Times published an interview with Ron Zimmerman and Carrie Van Dyck, the husband and wife co-owners of The Herbfarm. Though the restaurant's previous insurance plan by Group Health required a whopping $7500 deductible before kicking in and a monthly premium of $363(The Herbfarm reimbursed its full-time employees for half of the co-pay and paid half of the premiums), the restaurant was unable to access the same plan this year. Through changing agents and moving to Aetna, The Herbfarm succeeded in offering employees similar coverage to last year's plan at a comparable cost.

· A Small Restaurant Gets a Big Increase in Health Premiums — and Misses the Tax Credit [NYT]
· All Herbfarm Coverage on Eater Seattle [-ESEA-]