Kiss your healthcare goodbye

[seacliffes]

HC

I retired from a large Fortune 500 company after nearly 30 years of service. Part of my desire to work for that company (incentive) and decision to retire was based on the fact that upon retirement my Healthcare plan would remain with me the rest of my life.

After the passage of the bill the Company took a 1.1 billion dollar charge toward their new Healthcare liability to meet the new government requiremants. My friends in Human Resources are telling me that discussions are now in process to cut our benefits to point of forcing many of us to Medicare.

Also, I am being told we may be considered a "Cadillac plan" and will take a tax hit on top of that. Frankly, I will not be able to afford that, since my retirement payout was based on not having that cost.

Bottom line, this bill has changed the rules after lifetime decisions were made and I am extremely concerned.

I am more conservative in my age, but I do believe people should have affordable access to helath insurance. However, this bill is a mess and should be modified. It is estimated by some that 40% of healthcare costs are due to litigation and resulting liability insurance, yet the Democrats did not address this. Look which party receives the largest contributions from trial lawyers and perhaps the reason is there.

As I say, I hope affordable healthcare becomes a reality. I just do not want to be penalized for decisions I made in my life that I made when the rules of "the game" were different.

 

[toes]

I just feel frustrated at the anti government tone of many posts. Too many folks just are so negative about our government..until they are in trouble and need something from it. It is your government. Hope this helped answer your question...

These are all good points and all have merit. It appears the Federal Government always wants to do good but they have obvious limits. Just ask the residents of New Orleans or the coastal residents of the Gulf States. Or ask the unemployed. Many of these people need and/or needed the Federal Government and quickly learned that to go it alone is a much better option. My only comment is this; The same Federal Government that is currently managing the Gulf Oil Spill is the same Federal Government that has made a new law of the land to provide and manage our Health Care. I am well aware that the oil spill and health care are 2 different issues. But are they really? The Feds have done a less than admirable job of managing the oil spill (to be very kind). They have been incredibly reactive to this point (thought that is now changing) and that is incredibly typical. Being reactive to our healthcare may not be satisfactory to some. Being able to pay for it is another all to true concern. If you believe that this is an unfair comparison, all you need to do is look at Medicare, Social Security, Katrina, Job Recovery through Federal Stimulus packages, etc... And don't forget two Federal Agencies that are not included when you review the National Debt Calculations; Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These 2 agencies are 80% owned by taxpayers. Some economists fear another 20% decline in real estate prices - from where we are today! Fannie and Freddie have both already drawn a mere $145 Billion from an unlimited line of government credit to ensure current homebuyers can get loans while the private housing finannce industry is dormant (to be kind). In order to fix Fannie and Freddie, the cost will be $160 Billion and could grow to as much as $1 Trillion. This will be the mother of all bailouts and we obviously have no way to pay for it - which is a very scary recurring theme. Since this is the Federal Government, I would bet on the $1 Trillion cost, at a minimum. And our Federal Government does not factor this agency into the National Debt. Welcome to Federal Healthcare. That's all I'm sayin.

 

[jensieblue]

I too worked thirty years and a large motivation was to establish and keep health care. I can remeber in the 50's and 60's knowing of women who relied on thir husbands for income, healthcare only to loose everything when their spouse opted for a younger model...so sad

 

[librarian]

all i know is that i'll probably be paying a $50 surcharge per month for keeping my hubby on my insurance next year even though i'm already paying for "family" insurance at rates that only go up PLUS they might cut him off if they can prove his firm offers ANY insurance (even if its costlier and worse than mine). then if you have a college age dependant working part-time who is offered insurance from that company yours can cut that dependant off-and even if that insurance will cost nearly as much as the part-time job is worth. all i know is that the benefits i work harder and harder for are dissapearing along with my paycheck with no end in sight. hubby works 7 days a week and it's the same for him but taxes only go up and benefits go down.
yes everyone needs healthcare but those of us who already have health care shouldn't lose our access.