GolfHos

So, last week we got the letter, and today was the meeting about:

OBAMACARE!

which is exactly how the Naval Commander phrased it when we got the letter.

The upshot: Company has ALWAYS provided free health care (Blue Cross Anthem) for employees and dependents, until now. Now employees will still be free, but employees will pick up 25 pct of the increase for dependents.

To be completely fair: The letter absolutely pointed out that rates have risen every year since 2000 between  8 and 15 pct. This years increase was 16 pct.

The first clue that we were doomed came last week from a coworker who is pissed because one of the LA guys put his 22 year old son on the plan:

'OMG, WE SHOULDN'T HAVE TO PAY FOR THAT GUYS KID!!!'

 Punchline: The guys wife works for a grocery, and has one of the best union plans available. She carries him on hers, AND he carries her on his. Doesn't cost them anything, and they pay damn near nothing out of pocket depending on which plan they use. AND they're both loyal Clintonistas.

I pointed this out to him, and he's convinced himself that his situation is COMPLETELY different. Jokes on him though: If he drops her, he can't put her back on unless she loses hers.

Then the owner comes up today to have a face to face with 11 of us. That went pretty well, and he explained the increase in cost, how much the whole thing was, and kept it pretty apolitical, until he brought up:

 'Obama's biggest contributors, The Trial Lawyers and how they killed Tort Reform'.

I seriously COULD NOT let that *feces* slide. Man's entitled to his opinion, and I have alot of respect for a guy who has a tough, unpleasant task and chooses to do it face to face when he's really under no obligation to do so.

OTOH, I don't really need to listen to a *goshdarn* fundraising speech for the Orange County GOP at lunch do I now?

So, I said:

'Haven't Texas,  California and a few other states pass varying levels of tort reform, and that had pretty much had zero impact on rising health insurance rates?'

'No, I don't think so'.

'I'm pretty sure California did it in the 70's, and I'm QUITE sure Bush pointed to it as one of his crowning acheivements as Governor both times he was campaigning'.

'Well, we're getting a little off topic'.

'Umm, OK'.

I also noticed he didn't say goodbye to me when he left to go back to LA, something he usually makes a point of doing, LOL.

The other reason we're doomed: Our office Conservatives literally had NO idea that  insurance rates rising at 2 to 3 times the rate of inflation wasn't a Librul Lie, something the owner squared them RIGHT away on. There was also a serious question asked:

'Ron, what if it gets repealed?'

He literally laughed in the guys face, which was amusing as hell.

I have to laugh at myself on these topics, no all political type topics. Because I really have no clue what side I am on. I have found that I both agree and disagree with both the ass and the dumbo. I'm either a complete idiot or a genius.

Plenty of stupid to go around here:

Passing OBAMACARE! does not mean golden unicorns *feces* gift certificates to the Mayo Clinic on your lawn.

Every thing the other side says is not AUTOMATICALLY a lie.

But some of it is, or at the very least a red herring.  [sm_devil]

Probably the most important thing you need to know is that you will be decimated financially if you do not carry health insurance, unless you are one of the lucky ones who's corporeal existence ends in some sort of tragic instant requiring ZERO medical intervention.  Because even a futile half hour in the ER is.....

The other thing you need to know is that, if you "enjoy" some sort of health insurance benefit as a part of your employment, it has been an ever increasing fraction of your total compensation.  You are likely thousands of dollars poorer each year, and tens of thousands of dollars poorer over the last decade, because your employer has made the decision to compensate you with health insurance access, rather than with cash income.  At some point, employers will have reached the tipping point and simply withdraw or restrict health insurance access.  Whether or not you receive the differential as income will reflect your employer's humanity and.....

The final thing that is instructive to know is that this will not change unless....

So you see, it really isn't all that complicated.  I hope this has been helpful

No *feces*: He pointed out that the $2,000 fine employers will pay for not offering access is ALOT cheaper than providing health insurance.

Who says that the fine only has to be paid once? Government fines are usually applied per period (i.e. per day or per quarter) until the issue is remedied.

I'm  standing here looking at what my premium costs the company:

It's $435 bucks a month, which works out to about 5 grand annually. I'm operating on the assumption that since insurance plans run for a year, that would be the period in question. I don't KNOW that to be a fact.

So if they pay 2 grand a year for the fine, they save 3 grand. That may actually be the point: Kick people into exchanges or whatever and remove the onus from the employer to provide insurance.

$435 a month...
Is that cheap, expensive or average?

Cheap for a family plan. Probably expensive for an individual, depending on age, that is. MFAWG's an old fart, so it's probably cheap for him.

47, heavy smoker for most of that, high risk hobbies. I'm not complaining about the cost, but it's easy for me not to since I'm not paying it.

Here's the other categories:

Employee and spouse: $953
Employee and children: $790
Family: $1208.

Bear in mind that includes dental and vision, so it's probably pretty average.