The Bridge Interpreter Referral Service, Inc. | Belen, New Mexico

Healthcare Reform Will Free Entrepreneurs Suffering From Job Lock

Keith Falzone
The Bridge Interpreter Referral Service, Inc.
Belen, New Mexico

Founded: 2001
Full-time employees: 2
Health Coverage: Purchased through Keith’s second job

Bringing interpreters, hospitals and the deaf community together since 2001, Bridge Interpreter Referral Service owners Denise and Keith Falzone know the value of accessible, high-quality healthcare.

The Bridge Interpreters, who facilitate communication between deaf and hearing individuals by connecting the deaf community with certified interpreters, opened their doors in Fairbanks, Alaska just over a decade ago. When Denise’s mother fell ill, the couple packed their bags for New Mexico, where they could be close to family and try their hand at serving a new community.

The Falzones naturally expected to find New Mexico’s physical climate a tad toastier than Alaska’s, but they never anticipated the cold healthcare front the Land of Enchantment would hit them with. Today’s coverage climate has left the pair struggling to do business as they trek through the frigid financial conditions faced by those with preexisting health problems. The Falzones look forward to 2014, when the Affordable Care Act will free them from the constraints of preexisting condition exclusions and “job lock,” a scenario that occurs when an entrepreneur wants to start a new business but is forced to stay in their current job to keep health benefits.

“We’re victims of poor healthcare. We’re having a really hard time.”

Federal disability legislation leaves plenty of room for the skilled Bridge Interpreters to do their job, yet their own lack of access to affordable healthcare has Keith job locked as Denise struggles to run the business alone. Upon moving to New Mexico, Keith needed insurance immediately due to a preexisting condition causing diabetes and heart problems. This health issue, combined with the disproportionate cost of coverage for a small group of two, plus the fact that health insurers can charge older consumers higher premiums —or age rate them—rendered Keith unable to access affordable coverage as a New Mexico small business owner. To get healthcare, he therefore took a job as a video relay interpreter with a well-known health insurance company while Denise tried to get the Bridge Interpreter Referral Service back on its feet all on her own.

Due in part to being overworked by the insurance company, Keith’s health eventually deteriorated to the point where he had to switch jobs, taking a major pay cut in favor of his physical and mental well-being. Leaving the insurance company could’ve been the perfect opportunity for the couple to focus on building up their own business, but again, how would Keith take care of himself in the absence of coverage? For the second time, he had to leave Denise to her own devices in rebuilding the business—which could already have been growing if healthcare laws protected Keith—as he sought employment interpreting at a public high school in order to access state coverage.

“Keith’s boss was making him work crazy hours and was not considering his health problems. He had to take a $10,000 or $20,000 cut in pay to work at a high school so he could have normal hours and get insurance.”

Denise and Keith are just two of the many hardworking Americans who are job locked, pushed outside the limits of what looks like a closed healthcare market. The nation’s current system leaves little room for entrepreneurs, especially those unlucky enough to have preexisting conditions like Keith. But there is hope for the future: In 2014 the ACA will introduce health insurance exchanges—online marketplaces for purchasing coverage—that will open the gates to healthcare for many small business owners at more affordable prices, allowing them to attract employees who might otherwise choose to work for a larger company offering benefits.

Entrepreneurs like the Falzones will be free from job lock and able to start new businesses, growing the economy. Thankfully for Keith, not only will the ACA help tackle job lock issues faced by small business owners and employees, but it will also banish insurers’ rights to set preexisting condition exclusions anywhere in the nation—including the Land of Enchantment.