I am at my dining room table, doing laundry, reading blogs and keeping an eye on FB. It is 6:03 a.m. on a Saturday morning; I've been up since 5:00 a.m. Why the hell am I up? Why is my mind active this early in the morning, without coffee? What am I supposed to be doing this early in the morning, on a Saturday, while my sweet love sleeps, gently snoring in the other room?
I guess that its just been that there are several things on my mind, or it could be that I went to bed at 8:30 p.m. last night and I only sleep 8 hours, unless I am really sick. Of course, I don't want to talk about when I went to bed.
We are gearing up for open enrollment at work (thank you for medical benefits) and there are several changes affecting the benefits currently in place and a lot of subsequent bitching because of those changes. Some are blaming my company for being cheap, others are blaming our president and health care reform. One thing they all agree on? Our benefits are being taken away.
Let me say that I was not thrilled when my HMO option at work was changed to the point where is isn't really an HMO any more. Did I pay higher premiums? YES. I did that because I could control costs for my health care (thank G-d that I am healthy) because I would know exactly how much I would pay for any visit, because it was all co-pay based, there was no co-insurance (except for fertility services). It was so easy, so I was willing to pay more. On the face of the matter, it would seem that my benefits were being taken away. However, I still have benefits and they are really decent, all things considered.
Let's not forget why these benefits are changing...Healthcare Reform aka the Affordable Care Act. I finally reminded myself that these changes are in effect for the benefit of all, not the least of which are people like my partner, who is considered an independent contractor. She hasn't had health insurance for most of the 4 years I've known her. If she got sick, she had to figure out how sick she was and try and decide if it was serious enough for her to be seen by a doctor, or rather, the ER (Not having insurance meant not having a doctor, which means she went to the ER for care).
I have to say that the benefits of the Affordable Care Act touted on the website are worth the revamping of my insurance coverage to make it work. I'm not gonna lie, I approve of cost-free preventative services and I am willing to pay a higher deductible, coinsurance, etc. to help make that work. I even like that the website has links to show you options for insurance or community clinics.
I could bitch, but lets face it...I am lucky/blessed/privileged enough to even have Health Insurance. I can give up some convenience to allow others, like my partner, to to have options for affordable care, too.
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I am an HR coordinator who is also dealing with open enrollment from the perspective of the employer, and I want to point out that the rising costs and curtailing of benefits is due to the medical insurance companies, not necessarily the employer. Just like the credit card companies raised interest rates and closed accounts on a majority of their customers prior to implementation of the Credit Card Reform Act, Medical insurance companies are raising rates (15 - 40%) across the board without really justifying financially the increase. The fear that they will not be able to maximize their profit line once the Act goes into effect has caused the companies to react in such a way. I also believe there is some subterfuge in the Health Care Industry - they want to put pressure on the President/congress and shift the blame for rising costs to the legislation, rather than acknowledging that the current structure of the health care system is causing the increased cost. This is the primary reason for arguing for a public option and single payer health care. I can tell you, based on my discussions with my broker, that the industry is expecting single payer health care option as an eventual fact.
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