Yes, you read that right. $800+ A MONTH.
It was like the planets aligned this week for me. (If I believed in that kind of stuff, which I don’t.)
But still.
All I have to do is hope Obama wins.
Forget everything I said about voting for McCain. Because, you know, it’s all about the economy. So, you know, as a good comrade consumer sheeple American I should think about this election in terms of my financial bottom line.
We received our renewal rates for our insurance this week. (If you are a new reader here, we own our own business and purchase our own outrageously priced health insurance. Read here for last year’s post on that: I think the American Dream is just about dead.)
Anyway, it’s definitely gone up again. Approximately another 20%. And that is with more riders and copays. Apparently our insurance provider is trying to squeeze out the little guys and so they are making the premiums increasingly unattractive. Nice.
But then I realized… Hey! This doesn’t matter! If Obama wins, I’ll get free health insurance anyway! So we’re good for a big boost in income just by dropping our health coverage and going with universal health care! Woohoo!
Oh, but then I read this: Hawaii ending universal child health care (link no longer works). Why? From the article:
“People who were already able to afford health care began to stop paying for it so they could get it for free,” said Dr. Kenny Fink, the administrator for Med-QUEST at the Department of Human Services. “I don’t believe that was the intent of the program.”
After only nine months they are ending it because people started dropping their own coverage so their kids could get free coverage. Oh my! What a shocking unintended consequence! You mean people who could afford to pay for their insurance would stop so they could get something free? I mean, who would EVER think that?
(Sarcasm off)
Socialism doesn’t work. Obama is as socialist as they come. He’s a Maxist through and through. It does not work. David Limbaugh has an excellent column on WorldNetDaily that addresses this: Socialism! There, I’ve said it. From the article (bold mine):
Liberals, such as Obama, might deny human nature, but they can\’t change it. And human nature happens to dictate that people will not produce as much when you confiscate more of what they produce and give it to others. The working wealthy, especially Christians and conservatives, are some of the most generous people in the world, but we’re talking about voluntary charitable contributions, not unconstitutionally coerced redistributions.
How many times must history repeat itself before we learn that socialism and communism cannot work? Liberals love to mock the trickledown theory, but they simply cannot refute the axiom that people produce less when they aren’t allowed to keep as much of what they produce. When do-gooder social planners try to control how much we keep, they guarantee that everyone gets less in the end because they shrink the GDP pie.
We know from the writings of William Bradford that the Pilgrims learned this lesson the hard way when they tried a communal system of sharing, thinking it “would make them happy and flourishing; as if they were wiser than God.” Instead, “This community … was found to breed much confusion and discontent, and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comfort.” Men refused to “work for other men’s wives and children without any recompense; … this was thought injustice.”
Socialism and communism have failed everywhere they’ve been tried in the world, yet die-hard socialists, such as William Ayers, still smarter than God, insist on cramming them down our throats in the name of “fairness.”
Something to think about and pass along to your “undecided” friends.
I agree 100% with this post and the other political posts you have posted recently.
Fantastic! I love it when I see McCain at a rally and everybody is excited and cheering. However, those people–all of us, need to be told to go out and communicate the truth to the undecided. If this isn’t done Obama is going to win by “hook or crook.” If things just keep rolling along like they are going McCain is going to lose. Somehow, McCain has to “pull” more people over to his side. I am really disappointed that our religious leaders have not mounted a campaing for McCain like they did for Bush. Thanks for your comments. Keep writing.
Yee Haw! AND, we forget, Marxism, Socialism and Communism has all been tried, and failed, no matter where it was implemented. It took about 30 – 40 years to find that out in various countries (Russia took about 70 years, and they are still tempting fate by bringing back various strains of it).
We can only pray that God will have mercy on us all and not allow Obama to win. I put my hope and trust in HIM no matter what.
Who’d a thunk it?
Excellent post! I linked to you in my “what she said” post that’s going up tonight. :o)
When I was about 3 years old, my mom taught me that life isn’t “fair”. Too bad Obama and his pals never learned that lesson.
My only suggestion is to check out Assurant Health Insurance….I hear tell round these parts that they’re pretty affordable.
And 20%, that’s it? *sigh* Last fall ours went up 31%! I’m waiting to see how ridiculous the increase is this year.
I, for one, am all for state-run healthcare with income caps. More children would get the proper care they need, and more adults would too, if it was offered up to a certain income level. And no, I’m not talking Medicaid. I’m talking something that actually puts our tax dollars to use besides continual road construction, and paying for public officials who are nothing but crooks.
Oh wait. I’m living in a dreamworld. 😉 I forget, silly me!
I just gotta say, I’m glad I’m done voting. Its fun to watch the last few weeks pan out and just not even stress about it.
I remember the first time that I learned that America was originally socialist! Jamestown, for instance, was socialist, as were a number of the original colonies. They all had the same result–encouraging sloth and resentment. There wsa no reason to work harder than anyone else because there were no rewards for doing so! Jamestown fell apart because of socialism! Thankfully, our forefathers repented of their mistakes and tried another methodology.
One of the interesting things to me about Jamestown is that it was populated by Christians. I have heard a lot of folks idealize homogenous religious groups, believing that such groups could successfully pull off socialism even if diverse groups could not. Jamestown pretty much blows that idea out of the water. If a group of Bible-believing Christians who truly believe that all things can be done for the glory of God is adversely affected by such an economic setup, who in the world could survive?
You are so right, Sallie. Socialism doesn’t work. Ever. I really think that this is because it flies in the face of the law of sowing and reaping. If we cannot reap the good things we have sown, and if others who have not sown anything at all can reap the good things that should be ours, the result is nothing but discouragement.
Clif – Welcome! It is always nice to hear from one of the men reading here. I know there are at least a few of you!
Theresa – Thank you for the link!
Elaine – You mentioned fairness and that brings to mind something from the last debate that no one has talked about but I thought was profound. When the moderator asked the question about appointments to the Supreme Court, McCain said something along the lines of the court applying the Constitution or interpreting the Constitution. I know they are different, but it had something to do with the Constitution as in McCain actually knows that it exists and matters. What did Obama say? He said the responsibility of the Supreme Court was to make sure things were FAIR. I am paraphrasing here, but it was about fairness and I think he also mentioned justice. Ah yes. Legislating from the bench. One of the hallmarks of liberalism. Fairness is going to run this country into the ground.
Andrea – We had someone contact us this fall about Assurant so I did some research. Their premiums were so low I was sure there had to be a catch. They have a very poor track record of denying claims and all kinds of other shenanigans to get out of paying for people’s care. We decided to pass on that.
Brandy said:
You know. The thought of living in a homogeneous Christian group scares the living daylights out of me. I’ve seen what happens in group think homogeneous Christian groups. No thanks. 😯 But you are so right. It doesn’t work. Even for Christians who love God.
There might be some adjustments in the beginning but we are the only industrialized nation in the world that does not have universal healthcare.
Healthcare companies keep 30 percent of every dollar spent on healthcare just for their own profit.
It’s not really a leap into socialism any more than any other program, or certainly not any more than this bailout.
I have a lot of family in Canada and Europe and they seem quite happy with their healthcare and think our system is totally nuts.
In my husband and my jobs we are able to work extra each year. Part of that goes to the over 3000.00 we pay for our own insurance. I have already decided that we won’t work extra any more if Obama wins. Not only will we get free health care, but I am going to make sure that we can stay in a low enough tax bracket so that we will qualify for all the other goodies. Since he is going to share the wealth I want to make sure that I am on the right end of the sharing. No matter how much I enjoy working and how much the company needs me the other times of the year. Quess I am going to have to get some new hobbies.
Joy
I actually consider that profit margin quite low. When I worked in retail, we kept 50% of every dollar. And you know what? The company I worked for still went bankrupt! (And that was years ago in a good economy.) Profit margins are deceiving because they don’t consider a company’s debt load nor a company’s future expenses. A company without a health profit margin cannot make repairs, cannot expand, cannot do research, and cannot adopt new technologies. Profits represent the possibility for future expenditures.
The interesting thing to me about all the healthcare issues is that politicians seem to think that if we throw more money at it it will work better. Which reminds me of our education system and other government programs. Sometimes it isn’t that simple. For instance, I remember reading years ago (1997 I think) about how AIDS was going to bankrupt the healthcare system because it became so politicized that it could no longer be denied as a preexisting condition. My friends (to quote John McCain), even a fibroid tumor can be considered a preexisting condition. But AIDS was subject to accusations of discrimination based on “lifestyle.” There is a lot more than this one issue that causes the skyrocketing of healthcare costs, but it is something to consider.
Another thing to consider is that “healthcare” is approximately 20% of the American economy. So to socialize it is to aggresively socialize the economy as a whole. Considering the rapid decline of the cultures in other industrial nations, I am not sure that their precedent is a good argument for having the United States follow suit.
I’m not sure about throwing more money at healthcare.
I think the big question is, does for-profit healthcare (for the profit of the big HMOs) work? Could we do better? Is it ok that we have 50 million uninsured Americans?
Even from a small business perspective, I think entrepreneurship would explode if we have some sort of national health care program! Many people now stay tied to their jobs just for the health insurance.
From the large business perspective, they would like to get out of the health care game too. Look at the big auto companies, where do you think they build their plants now in North America? Canada. Why? They don’t want to pay the health insurance costs here.
McCain’s plan would remove the incentives for big companies to provide health care insurance. That would increase the number of uninsured.
As far as socializing health care, hey, we seem to be socializing everything these days, with the co-operation of both major political parties and our president, so why not? 😀
I always use Canada and Europe as a gauge: If they’re cool with something, that tells me I won’t be. The liberal ridiculousness running rampant in those places scares the h*ll out of me. They’ve managed to denigrate the entire family unit as we know it. Why on earth we’d want to use these places as a model is beyond me. Sorry, I’d like my child to be legally married to someone of the opposite sex and have children with that one person. Call me old-fashioned, I guess.
I’d also like them to be raised in a society with a strong work ethic, not a sense of entitlement. Humans are entitled to nothing. Our only basic needs are air, water, shelter, clothing, and food. Our middle class society has become so image-conscious, so selfish, that we’ll pay $150 for a pair of jeans while complaining about gas prices on the way to the mall. The people I hear talking about the wonders of universal healthcare are not poor people! They may be people who make poor choices, but they are by no means poor. This country needs a shift in priorities, not healthcare handed to them on a silver platter. Next time you go to Wal-Mart, count the number of cars in the lot the cost more that $30,000. Walk through the mall and count how many teenagers are carrying Abercrombie shopping bags, among others. My goodness it makes me so mad that we’re teaching our kids that it’s ok to drop $50 on a t-shirt but, gosh darnnit, let the government pay for your allergy meds! 😯
I guess one of the key issues for me is that the government screws up most of what it does. Public education anyone? Not to denigrate some of the great public educators out there, but the system as a whole is a mess and a joke. And I want these kinds of bureaucrats deciding if I get surgery or treatment or not? No thank you!
Brandy made some excellent points as well. Thanks!
And, for the record, I don’t agree with the bailout and I don’t agree with socialism already infiltrating its way into our country. And, like Jen, I have no interest in becoming like Euroland. No offense to the great folks who read here and live there, but that’s not what I want. At. All.
So, Jen, why don’t you tell us how you REALLY feel? LOL! You said:
And I say: Preach it, Sister! 😀
Lol!
Sallie, I am curious, since you and David buy your own health care insurance. Are you happy with having to buy your own? Are you happy with the price? Are you scared that one day they could drop you or it could become unaffordable?
We have health care insurance through my husband’s company and it’s good. I don’t like McCain’s plan because he takes away a major incentive for companies to give health insurance. So many people like us who work who would then be turned onto the open market.
Ann – I honestly don’t mind buying insurance. It is just a part of being in business. What I resent is the premiums going up each year at 5, 6 or 7 times the rate of inflation while also reducing our coverage, increasing our copays, increasing the number of copays we have, etc. So, no, I am not happy with the price. It may eventually become unaffordable. To this point, we have sucked it up, increased our deductibles even more to lower the rate some, and kept paying. I feel like we have no choice. To let our coverage lapse could make it almost impossible to pick something up again in the future, especially since both of us would probably have preexisting conditions. We’ve looked into the group share type things some Christians offer, but they don’t usually cover anything preexisting either (such as if I had back problems again in the future). The other reason we keep our insurance is because of Caroline. I would feel horrible if she needed care and we couldn’t get it for her.
But this country is going to have to take a long hard look at how it spends its medical dollars. Is it really worth it to spend a quarter of a million dollars or a half a million dollars to keep alive an 85 or 90 year old person who has lived a good life but will not recover? Yes, we should do everything we can to keep that person as comfortable as possible and help them pass peacefully. But where do you draw the line? I don’t have the answers, but our advances in medicine are starting to seriously outpace our abilities to pay for them.
Yes, the preexisting condition stuff is downright scary, no matter what plan you have.
I have to say, from what I see from all of my family in Canada, they really are happy with and proud of their national health care system. Sure, there are the nightmare stories, but there are nightmare stories here too, even from people who thought they had good insurance.
My dad received excellent care during his bout with cancer. My aunt, who had a lifelong heart condition, also received excellent care and lived much longer than anyone expected. I had some Canadian relatives visit this past summer, and they were fascinated with our system, or lack of a system. They couldn’t fathom how someone could go bankrupt because they couldn’t pay medical bills.
I don’t think we will ever get something like Canada’s system here, but it’s food for thought. Anyway, enough rambling about Canada!
I totally agree with your last paragraph. Hard questions and hard answers.
Sallie –
Well, I am glad, for one, that you were honest in your review of Assurant. Aaron’s flirted with the idea of getting on board there as an underwriter, but something always held us back whenever they’ve contacted him in the past. Now I know, and can share with him.
*sigh* Sorry about that! 🙁
And then there is my SIL who lives in Canada and just had her first baby. She had to go about 100 miles round trip to go to her OB/GYN because of caps and government regulations on how many patients a doctor can see.
I’m all for REFORM, as in let’s quit letting hospitals/doctors/drug companies financially rape us with ridiculous costs on menial things. There is absolutely no excuse that my insurance company paid $1500 to the ER when my 3 year old broke her leg. She got a CAST. And 2 tylenol and we were sent on our merry way, with a $1500 bill that pretty much arrived the next day.
We need to stop allowing CROOKS to spend money like it is paper and let’s get some common sense again.
We don’t need government run insurance. We just need to get everyone back to their real lives and quit funding trips to the spa and golf course for drug company executives!
There is a reason that medical administration is one of the “best” jobs to go to college for! Perky-filled salary with lots of extras and we all get sick, so there is plenty of demand!
I know I’m passionate about this, but as a mom to a very special needs child, I see the ridiculous waste in medicine and it is horrifying and shocking to me that we think the government could step in and “fix it” by giving it to us for free?
There is nothing “free” about letting the government pick up my $1500 er bill. We need to reign in the system first, not make it bigger.
When we lived in the US, I had to go to the emergency room once, and my bill was 4000 USD for 6 hours of IV’s and all kinds of tests to see why I had blacked out. Final diagnosis: dehydration. Thankfully we had insurance that covered almost all of it, but doesn’t this seem quite ridiculous?
I live in a third world country now, and we have insurance but many cannot afford it. There are charity hospitals run by the government. They also came up with a law that a hospital cannot refuse medical care, or kick someone out for lack of money. This is definitely a good thing. But then the government is not helping pay back all the “forced charity” the hospitals end up giving. And I know many hospitals make tons of money and we don’t need to feel sorry for them, but this has actually forced many smaller hospitals to close. Now one hospital here actually charges the supervising physician if their patients end up not paying! So the physicians naturally don’t want to accept new patients unless they know they can pay.
So it’s sad all around. Health care will always be a very big issue in any election, and I feel that right now in the US, neither plan is good enough. But I also wonder if we’ll ever get to a “good enough” stage, no matter what kind of marvelous plan someone can come up with. There’s just so much to untangle and fix.