Originally Posted by dknv
The healthcare chaos really gets me going ... there are several issues that I could be really outspoken about, but I'll start with this: everyone who wants health insurance, can't necessarily buy it today.
Rob - when I was in my early 20's I remember being very idealistic; and much like what you are saying, I knew that those who were the have-nots - the people on welfare, the people asking for hand-outs, were in that state because they chose to be so, and because they didn't work for something better. It's not an unexpected opinion from an idealistic viewpoint.
Fast forward many years, and here is a reality check from my experience: I worked for a company for 26-1/2 years. Paid taxes, donated to United Way, paid my employee portion for health insurance. Worked hard, became a salaried employee, met the 50 hour workweek expectation, which grew to 60, then 70 or more, sometimes 7 days a week, sometimes on the road for several days up to several weeks at a time at other sites. Sometimes on call 24/7, working on a problem from 2am until 4pm the next day. When the company started outsourcing work to India to save a few bucks, I trained some of those contractors. The day I got a pink slip, I was one of 50+, while the company kept paying for out-of-country contractors!
"Yes", they said, "you can get COBRA"! It turned out that my Cobra payment was $600/month. When you are unemployed, and UI runs out, it's pretty unrealistic to pay $600 every month, for services you might or might not need.
For those of you with idealistic expectations, I wish you a lifetime of success and of never needing to use your health insurance. For the rest of us - I wish us something fair. $600 / month (or more for some) is rape.
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