Quote:
Originally Posted by CC1
That is called socialism. I dread the thought of the Federal government providing health care for all. It will be run like everything else the government does - inefficiently and with employees that don't give a care about customer service.
I think you have to weigh in the cost of health care insurance on your own as part of your total compensation when considering jobs. If the job without insurance is not paying at least a few hundred dollars per month more than one with insurance it may not be worth it.
I work for a company with around 65,000 employees and even with that kind of group buying power my PPO plus premiums were about $360 per month so this year I moved to one of those health savings account programs combined with health insurance with a high ($2500) deductible. My company gave my wife and I $1500 in a health savings account towards that $2500 deductible and paid 100% of health care until we depleted that $1500 (actually $1700 because they gave us an extra $200 for doing a health survey). We have to foot 100% of the $1,000 gap ($800 in our case) between the money they company gave us up front for medical care and that $2500 deductible then the insurance takes back over covering 90%.
Just a few short years ago my PPO covered 100% after my small co-pays!
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You did the "health survey"? ....oh boy. You guys have no idea. If any of you get on a plan like this and they offer you ipods or money to take the survey....DON'T DO IT. Keep your cards close to your chest in regards to your health. The more information you give them the greater the possibility they'll deny coverage and argue that a condition was "pre-existing". I've seen it happen. Just use wisdom guys. They don't just "give money away" for a survey. They plan on using those surveys to make that money back and then some by using them in their efforts to deny claims. When they asked me to fill out the survey and register to win a new ipod...I just laughed and said, "Thank you." Then I put the little survey promotional in the shredder. lol
Most are not very big on social programs. However, the options are rising costs and more uninsured and higher death rates for treatable illnesses or....some form of government involvement.
I work for the government as an account and budgetary reconciler. Of course...I don't think that government funding or negotiating something is necessarily "socialist"....the police aren't socialistic....neither is fire....water....street maintenance....wastewater treatment...and the list could go on. If the government were to take over and manage hospitals and insurance companies, making doctors government employees to treat citizens in government clinics....that would be socialism. But essentially allowing Americans the "option" to purchase insurance from a private insurer based on the group rates secured by the government negotiations with the insurance company....that's more like the government contracting for lower cost to you, the consumer. You still would reserve the right to buy insurance as a single individual if you desired and could afford it. The market forces that would generate would be "huge" as insurers find they have to lower their costs to compete. So in the end...even those not wishing to participate in the system benefit from it's effect on the market.
Don't think of it as "government health care"...because it's not. Think of it like government contracting with the private insurance industry as a business partner (like they do so many of your favorite construction companies) to provide you lower rates.
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