I'm covered under my employer provided plan as well. (family)
My contribution increased 25%....same plan as last year. So I'm assuming the total cost increased about the same.
My concern now is that may have elevated the dollar value to the taxable figure.....great!
First let me start with, I AM NOT AN OBAMA FAN & DID NOT VOTE FOR HIM, nor am I trying to make excuses for him. The healthcare system is broken, not just here but worldwide. Think people in other countries have it made with socialized medicine? Talk to them and see how they feel about a 30-50% +/- income tax & not being able to pick their own Dr or get seen in a timely fashion. It is my strong belief it is something that simply can't be fixed to work well & satisfy everybody, and is political suicide to attempt it. Why do you suppose Obama didn't push it hard during his first term? If he had he wouldn't have had a 2nd term. Could the gov't put profit limits on pharmaceutical & insurance companies? Maybe, but not without trampling the constitution & free enterprise system. A healthcare system that can work for old/young, sick/healthy, rich/poor, and operate being able to make enough profit to sustain itself just aint gonna happen. Sorry to be DEBBIE DOWNER. My guess would be that WHEN Obama care fails, or is revoked by the next POTUS. Healthcare will revert back to the private sector, the Gov't will wash their hands of the mess and not want to get involved, kind of like AFRICA. If I or anyone had the answer, or a plan that actually worked, Bill Gates would be shining our shoes.
First let me start with, I AM NOT AN OBAMA FAN & DID NOT VOTE FOR HIM, nor am I trying to make excuses for him. The healthcare system is broken, not just here but worldwide. Think people in other countries have it made with socialized medicine? Talk to them and see how they feel about a 30-50% +/- income tax & not being able to pick their own Dr or get seen in a timely fashion. It is my strong belief it is something that simply can't be fixed to work well & satisfy everybody, and is political suicide to attempt it. Why do you suppose Obama didn't push it hard during his first term? If he had he wouldn't have had a 2nd term. Could the gov't put profit limits on pharmaceutical & insurance companies? Maybe, but not without trampling the constitution & free enterprise system. A healthcare system that can work for old/young, sick/healthy, rich/poor, and operate being able to make enough profit to sustain itself just aint gonna happen. Sorry to be DEBBIE DOWNER. My guess would be that WHEN Obama care fails, or is revoked by the next POTUS. Healthcare will revert back to the private sector, the Gov't will wash their hands of the mess and not want to get involved, kind of like AFRICA. If I or anyone had the answer, or a plan that actually worked, Bill Gates would be shining our shoes.
You asked if the government can put profit limits. Don't they already do this with utilities? Maybe not necessarily limits, but don't our utility companies need approval before they raise rates? This is done, because water and electricity are deemed to be essential. It's an honest question, because I am curious about how we can set rates in one sector but not another.
I am all for free enterprise, and would take caution with anything that approaches socialism. However, the free market does not work with medicines that people have to have to stay alive. In my case, with insulin, there are only two primary manufacturers. Well, the free market says if I don't like the rates of one, I go to the other. However, there are only two, and they both charge the same. At the same time, if I say, "fine, I won't buy your product," I have about 30 days to live or possibly 6 months if I choose a starvation diet.
There are articles all over the web that point to the high cost of insulin being due to profit; not even R & D. In 1921, the original patent sold for $1, because the doctors wanted to get it produced and start saving lives. Now, it cost hundreds per month. I know that many, many others are in the same boat with other conditions.
That is what ObumaCare fails miserably at. He was so damned concerned to say "everyone now has insurance" that no one addressed whether or not people could afford their doctors and medications at the current rates. Yes, the system is broken, but to fix it, we have to attack it at the right angles instead of just looking at the surface.
