Fwd: [Hidden-tech] Health insurance

[Mary Malmros]

A - Z International wrote:

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> Hi Jeff,
> 
> Great questions, which is why we are scheduling a health insurance 
> program with regional experts for next April, which I'm told is closer 
> in to enactment of the new legislation.
> 
> It's my impression these sorts of details are still being hammered out. 
> But you can always call your state rep's office for the most up-to-date 
> information. If you find anything out, please pass it along.

Here's the deal as I understand it.

1.  Everybody gotta have insurance.
1a. If your employer is paying for it, or it's otherwise provided for 
you (you're on somebody else's plan/a student at a college that has a 
plan/whatever), hurray for you.  You're all set.
1b. All others need to acquire insurance.
1c. There is no exception for contractors, part-time workers, or anyone 
else without a full-time steady income.

2.  For those who must acquire insurance, there are no meaningful 
guarantees or assurances of any kind re: assistance in doing so.
2a. If you're poor (defined as a certain percentage of the federally 
defined poverty level), you can get some or all of the premium of some 
as-yet undefined plan covered by as-yet unallocated funds from an as-yet 
unwritten budget.  They say.
2b. If you're not poor by that definition, you must purchase insurance 
and bear the full cost yourself.

3.  If you must purchase insurance and bear the full cost yourself, 
there is no restriction on what "the full cost" may be.  The insurance 
industry has agreed to nothing that constitutes a guaranteed maximum 
premium, or even a meaningfully fixed number as to what approximately 
the cost of such insurance might be.  Realistically optimistic estimates 
place it at just under $300 a month.
3a. There is, however, a guarantee for what it will cost you if you fail 
to procure insurance for yourself: an added $3000 charge on your 
individual tax bill.

4.  There is nothing in the legislation that requires employers to 
provide insurance for employees.  This is true whether they're a mom and 
pop grocery shop or Wal-Mart.
4a. To make things look good, however, the legislation includes a 
penalty for employers who fail to offer insurance for employees.  The 
penalty is $300 per uninsured employee _per year_.  It is unclear if 
this affects employers like Wal-Mart who "offer insurance" but force 
employees to pay the full premium, which very few employees can afford.

5.  There are certain parties who are going to make out very well out of 
this legislature.  They are:
5a. Politicians who are getting fawning attention on a national scale 
from political pundits who are shortsighted enough to think this is a 
good idea,
5b. The insurance industry, which just picked up tens of thousands of 
new customers who cannot leave the program or negotiate prices, and all 
without spending a dime in advertising,
5c. Very poor people, who will now have some form of meaningful health 
insurance,
5d. People with employer-provided and -funded health insurance, and 
their employers, who will likely see a modest drop in premiums.

6.  There are also certain parties who are going to get screwed to the 
wall.  They are:
6a. Health care providers who are currently trying to offer low-cost, 
affordable, pay-as-you-go healthcare, and who are able to do so by 
avoiding insurance bureaucracy,
6b. Politicians with a conscience (if there are any) who have the guts 
to stand up and say, "But, Mama, the emperor has no clothes!"
6c. Everyone reading this email.

Hope none of you were planning on retiring...


-- 
Mary Malmros						malmros at verizon.net
      Some days you're the windshield, other days you're the bug.