Obama Care

I know, I know..... it's not perfect.  Show me a government program that is perfect.  Here's what I don't get about Obama Care.  When this first came into effect those of us employer groups that actually offer *real* health benefits to employees were asked cough up $64 per participant to cover the wave of the uninsured that were about to enter the exchanges so the insurance industry did not take a massive loss treating all those preexisting, nasty conditions (read:  expensive).

Do the math.  It does not take long to rack up $100,000 to fork over to the insurance industry to help fund Obama Care.  How unfair is THAT?  Once again, it's the employers that offer decent benefits are the ones that get **** over by the employers that don't.

For well over a decade we would hold our breath at insurance renewal time to see how badly we were going to get raked with premium increases for the coming year.  Kaiser?  20%.  Health Net 15%  blue Cross and Blue Shield?  12%.  The double digit increases were based on some convoluted formula they did not want you to figure out.  Where there's confusion, there is money.  Don't ever forget that.

I'm getting off track.  Enter Obama Care.  We get our insurance renewals this year.  WTF?????  They have STABILIZED????  We actually got a DECREASE for Blue Shield, albeit a small fraction of a percentage decrease.  It's like when somebody who has been abused for so long is no longer subject to beatings, they take the absence of beatings as a sign of improvement and caring.

Ohhhhhhhh...now insurance companies have to JUSTIFY their rate increases - at least to formal, group plans.  It's hard for them to continue to justify double-digit increases when their profits are in the kabillion of dollars.  That's good news for us, anyway.  It's great news if you're part of a group plan and not some poor, disenfranchised slob on the exchanges.  They don't have any collective bargaining power nor a healthy group paying premiums to dilute their expensive conditions.  That, my dear friends, is why we're seeing 112% increases for those on Obama Care.   Granted, I'm over simplifying the entire scenario but this fact will always hold true:  Insurance companies don't ever do anything that they think will bleed money from them.  They will take the blood from YOU.  They do nothing out of the 'kindness' of their hearts.  I don't care what their emotional, syrupy tv commercials say otherwise.