Employers, workers share lack of love for health reform

And by the way, I’m tired of hearing people cry about their rights. If you believe in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, you inherently believe in limited government. Otherwise, you are twisting those words around to mean something else. Pursuit of happiness means get off your butt and go get it, not sit back and wait for someone else to give it to you. Likewise, it’s not “what your country can do for you”, it’s “what you can do for your country”.

I firmly believe that the bills between the Senate and the House are just the tip of the iceberg. Has there been the “drilling down” to see where the costs are. It seems like this is just a way to get a health care bill passed without doing the work to see where the costs lie. This is going way too fast for such a large portion of what both employers and employees pay for health care. We really need to look at root problems and make some common sense judgements on what the costs amount to. I agree with both John and Eric..there is so much entitlement rampant in our government what will the next handout be?

I am one of the few who feel that this bill is not the devil. I have scanned through it and do not see where everyone feels it is an entitlement bill. Those who sit on their but have health insurance through welfare (in fact better insurance than most). This is about the small companies and self-employed who cannot afford healthcare!! I will agree it is being pushed through way to fast and that we need to look at all options to bring down cost. However, I would hope we can all agree something needs to be done.

BTW John, the bill does address buying insurance across state lines. The new bill was just released today and I will take the time to scan it too before I smash it!

It is unfortunate that the extemists on both sides of this issue will be the cause of another defeat for the American Middle Class. The bill currently before congress is certainly not perfect.
Unfortunately, the right wing would be happy if nothing were passed and they continued to be financially rewarded by the big company lobbiests. The cry about cutting Medicare benefits when what is propsed to be cut is portions of Medicare Advantage which is a sham providing questionable benefits to selfish seniors who know the government should not be involved in paying for such benefits. As a Medicare recipient and administrtor for the benefits of a $20+ company, I choose to carry a Medigap policy not because it is less expensive (most Medigap policies are not) but because iit is the right thing to do.
On the other hand, leftists want nothing if they can’t have a single payer system. Neither of these positions benefit the Middle Class. Health Care is a moral issue in addition to being a financial issue. To small business the lack of community rating will mean small business will not be able to sustain providing coverage to employees. Insurance of any kind has always meant by definition those who do not use it support those who do. For this reason mandatory coverage is essential to make a plan work. Everyone wants a pass on prexisting conditions; yet they want to be able to elect to not participate until they get sick. In more cases than not that sickness will be a direct result of not participating in the first place. Unfortunately both the governing hacks and the population are selfishly protecting their own nests rather than viewing the situation in a good Christian manner of what is the best for all.
Dave Fletcher

I strongly disagree with John. Health reform is a must. I take it no one else here works in health care? The system is a mess. If Canada can do it for crying out loud, why can’t we?

I am unsure as to where healthcare reform will eventually lead. I do believe that change is needed in this country. There are programs out there who help the very poor with no assets. However, the people who have gotten off their butts and are, or were, working very often cannot afford insurance. Not all companies provide insurance, and the working poor often do not have the means to afford private plans. In addition, those that have become ill and are no longer able to work should not have to lose everything they have worked for because of their health problems (and hence no insurance company willing to take them on). I don’t know what the right answer is, but I do hope that health reform will help millions who need medical treatment. I am not saying this is the right plan, but hopefully we can get moving in the right direction and tweak it until we find a solution that benefits the country as a whole. My final utopia would be that the plan would evolve quickly, costs would reduce, and healthcare would improve for all.

I don’t believe that requiring people to pay for health insurance is any more unconstitutional that requiring peopel to have insurance on their cars. Allowing insurance companies to compete across state lines sounds good – but wont’ work. Would states still regulate? Or would we need to create anohter govt oversite for the insurance industry? Or let them go unregulated (worked great for the finance folks). What network is a company in Idaho going to have for someone in Texas? I’ll be for tort reform when the physicians get rid of the quacks – the one’s operating intoxicated and with multiple mal practice claims against them. The AMA does a terrible job with this. That said, we all know there are a lot of friviolous law suits that need to be kicked out of the system. Unfortunately, the state that have implemented tort reform (mine is one) haven’t seen any effect on costs – the saving go to the insurance companies – not the physicians.

If you think this plan will increase costs – guess what – the costs are going up anyway! We’re already paying for the insured – they just aren’t paying any premiums – ever been to an ER lately?

I agree that it will result in higher health care costs for everyone. I agree that this matter should have been looked at more closely to see where the additional costs are going to lie. And what about the health care providers and drug companies? Why are they not held accountable for the rising cost of services and medications? This is where it starts, why not make them take a cut in their profits instead of making the general public shell out more money for mediocere care and new “miracle drugs” that are not researched thoroughly and are discovered cause death and disability after taking them? I think that is the health care reform we need. MAKE THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY ACCOUNTABLE.

Thank you Eric for a reasoned response to the issue. Your employees are lucky to have such a wonderful employer. Too much misinformation is being disseminated and far too little rationality and compassion. This country will do just fine under health care reform. Is it perfect? Of course not. But now we should all work together to improve it and make life a little better for everyone.

As a long time reader this site provides very useful information. Unfortunately, this issue seems to bring out the worst in people.

I just got our annual renewal rates (3 medical and 1 dental plan), and they increased an average of 14.1%. Of that increase, approximately 4% is a result of government mandate…COBRA subsidy, Mental Health Parity Act and the anticipated health care reform. We haven’t hammered out how it’s actually going to look to our employees, but our Finance Director has already said we probably won’t be able to continue offering 100% employee coverage (or the 80%+ dependent coverage) we have in the past. No political statement here…just a statement of fact. The health care reform that is going to lower the budget deficit by 138 million over 10 years and only impact the wealthiest 2% of Americans is going to negatively impact our entire workforce…including employees who are only making $13/hr.

Higher benefits costs? I’ve seen 2 to 3 times the rate of inflation for the last 12 – 12 years.
Reduced available benefits? Employers have been dropping coverage for years.

Eric:
I can’t quite tell your opinion from your post. At first you seem to support Federal healthcare, and its associated entitlement programs, then you remind us that hard work pays off, and that the system works for those that are willing to do their part.
I am not trying to be political here when I say that as an employee of a non-profit, I fully expect my coverage to decrease and my premiums and taxes to increase. The cost burden of providing health care to employees will increase, but now it will be mandated to provide that coverage (if you employee more than 50 people). That cost will most definitely be passed to me and my fellow workers. Insurance companies will be required to provide coverage to all people, and they will not be allowed to charge more for sick people. Also, each and every American will be required to purchase health care coverage, or face a fine of $695 per year. The profit margins of insurance companies will go down unless they raise their rates, and with a captive audience, everyone will still have to buy their services, no matter what the cost.
This bill will hurt everyone, except the very poor, whose premiums will be paid by the tax payer.

How can one offer an opinion on 2000+ pages of legislation? Many who voted both ways never even read it. Cut the pork would be a first good step. The process, whether for or against it stunk. Way too partisanship. We need a third party. Those are probably all points we could agree on.

I just finished renewing my company health plan. As a small business employer, I can tell you exactly what we need in order to be able to continue offering our employees decent health plans.

1. Allow insurance companies to compete across state lines (as John said above)
2. Allow small businesses (both groups and individuals) across the country to band together in buying health insurance

Those two things would bring our costs down significantly. We small business need the purchasing power that large companies have. When the rates come down, employees can afford premiums. By allowing individuals access to affordable premiums through membership in groups or associations, those that do not get their insurance through en employer would also be able to afford premiums.

Keep the government out of it. Americans should have the right to ACCESS affordable healthcare, not the right TO healthcare. There’s a big difference.

Terry, thank you, thank you, thank you for your last paragraph. It sums up perfectly what I’ve been trying to verbalize to my friends who are strong supporters! I am strongly against this bill but I can’t deny that some aspects of it are things that needed to happen (such as keeping insurance companies from denying those with pre-existing conditions). Does something need to happen? I don’t think anyone would say no. But this?

I am not sure what employees this article is talk to but my employees are happy that this bill has been passed.

In NJ we have a bill, DU31, that allows dependents that have maxed out age-wise on the parents insurance, to get coverage under the employers plan at a cost close to Cobra fees. My company has adopted this program for our employees and we do have several parents that are paying the premiums for their kids. I have received a call from most of them the day this bill was signed asking when they can put their kids back on the company plan until they are 26 so that they can stop the added expense. In these hard economic times when our collage graduates can not get jobs or only part time work where benefits are not included it is a relief to know that dependents can still have the insurance.

As a general rule these young adults should be healthy and as such do not really add a great deal to the cost of the health plan. There are exceptions to everything and one never knows what is coming but they should be relatively cost effective. Why then would people not want to have this kind of coverage for their dependents? Do we not want to take care of our kids? Unfortunately neither of mine are under 26 so this bill does not help me but I am happy for those it does help.

It is a bad idea to have calorie counts posted in a resturant or make it a little more costly on tanning salons. I think not. Will it make a huge difference in the big picture, probably not but it is a start. Obesity and skin cancer are large ticket items so whay not try and reduce the risk.

It would be nice if they put in the bill that doctors must be part of a network. Doctors are leaving insurance companies because they do not like the compensation so they leave the network and then are free to bill whatever they want and the insurance company will only pay a portion leaving the patient a hefty remainder.

Why can’t Congress address those type of issues as well. If standard billing for services was reformed then the cost would be normalized. Why not limit how much surgery will cost by saying that you can not charge more than a % of Medicare.

Our new medical plan has a cap at 140% of Medicare for out of network services. Why not hold all the doctors and services to a cap.

Several of us have commented on the need for COMPETITION for our health care dollars. Area hospitals should publish the cost of an MRI, CT scan, room charges, etc. Doctors offices should compete to have our business. There is competition in every aspect of our lives however in health care there is not. It almost seems that we’re not conditioned to ask “how much does that procedure cost?”
By 2014, employers all over the US will be flooding DC and their employees with the “mandated paperwork” set forth in this bill:
Form 1099-HC to the government, a reporting obligation for employers for minimum essential coverage, a reporting obligation for employer’s furnishing qualifying and affordable coverage, a disclosure obligation for employer’s to their employee’s regarding exchanges, etc.

Fix the problem which is the cost of health care. It will eventually end up that employer’s will spend so much time trying to comply with all of the mandates and the increased costs that there will be a government controlled health care system.

I am not in favor of the government telling us what to do with our health insurance, especially covering abortion. I think there needs to be caps on lawsuits and healthcare costs.