What about the US Citizens who have employer based health care that is bad?

[dugaresa]

What about us?

What about us folk who have good jobs we like and have accrued vacation but our employer keeps jerking around with varying health care plans? What about us?

I have seen in the past 12 years the offerings from my company go from good to horrible.

My employer's latest idea is to force us into HSA's (Health Care Spending Accounts) and catastrophic coverage. So tell me, what can we do?

[Statistical]

1. Under the bills as discussed nothing....

except maybe lobby your employer to drop all coverage in 4 years and give you a raise.
Then you could select a plan from the exchange.

As the PRES explained it the exchange is only for those without coverage.

[tsuki]

2. Didn't you get the meme? All people who have private insurance

love it. (Do I need the sarcasm tag?)

[HughBeaumont]

3. HSAs. Not only does the RISK get shifted to you, the FULL responsibility does too.

Republicans = the YOYO party (You're On Your OWN). The "Sucks to be Poor" Party. The "Work Harder and Harder and You'll Be Like ME Someday" Party.

[dugaresa]

8. and that is why my husband and I are kind of freaking out about this

all of us in our family have asthma and other pre-existing conditions, the entire idea of HSA's is scary beyond belief.

[ashling]

4. A plan that is available only to some is neither

public nor an option.

[placton]

5. simple answer: under Obama's suggestions

U R FUCKED

[seabeyond]

6. i am exactly where you are. and i dont point finger at employer.

i agree with you totally. i have blue cross hsa and i dont trust the catastrohic worth shit. i also have to pay all along the way without a huge $ issue.

but i am not point finger at employer. i can remember coca cola and the insurance. kick ass. but today so fuckin expensive employer cant help employee either. one of reasons we wanted to sell business. hubby felt responsibility to provide a good insurance. every year went up 30-50 percent. every year he would hunt for a better insurance. last year was a huge fuck it.... cant afford it

[dugaresa]

7. I can't blame my employer, their bottom line is suffering due to the high insurance rates

the problem is that this US based company stands to lose talented people and perhaps have their bottom line suffer as a result of that because of the fact that private insurance is a racket.

[TransitJohn]

9. We're fucked.

The O-pologists are going to come on your thread and say that you gain big because of the mild reforms asked for last night that won't be in the final bill. Our rates will continue to go up and up and our benefits will continue to be shitty.

[dugaresa]

10. which is just more of the same bull and I am tired of it

I pay and pay and pay and I worry each year about the increase in premiums.

As it stands, I don't like to go to the doctor because it costs an arm and a leg on top of my insurance. How's that for preventative care.

[customerserviceguy]

11. I'm curious

Does your employer also put money tax-free into your HSA? Or do they ask you to fund it yourself?

While they are not a solution for everyone, they certainly would benefit younger, healthier workers who could let the money build up for a decade or so, getting first-dollar coverage on minor, routine expenses. I'm one of the few here who is not automatically put off by the idea.

[dugaresa]

12. they are tossing the idea about, but it is doubtful

they already gave us a paycut due to the economic slump and told us that we won't see raises for yet another year to even cover what they took away.

Unfortunately I am not one of those younger workers, nor are the majority of folks I work with in my department. We are all in our mid 30's and up.

I have two kids with asthma, I have asthma, I have back problems and a known problem with my discs. My husband has barrets esophagus which requires a scoping every year. Overall we are healthy, we go to the gym, we in relatively great shape, but we could easily be wiped out if one of the kids has a bad case of flu and ends up in the hospital for a week.

I also want to note that being younger doesn't mean healthier. Loads of young people get blind-sided by medical bills. I know of one young woman in her mid twenties that came down with MS, went from perfectly healthy to bad shape in 2 years.

[customerserviceguy]

13. Sorry to hear that

It has been tough for a lot of folks who still have jobs, pay and benefit cuts have been severe.

Your point about younger workers is well made, but I can see a "gap" market that might spring up to fill the distance between one's savings and one's catastrophic coverage. The idea behind HSAs is that people can save up their own HSA money from year to year (unlike the "use it or lose it" medical savings accounts that many employers offer for workers to put in their own money), and after a number of years, you have enough put away between what you spend for routine medical care and what you contribute over the years, that a big illness does not hurt you.

I can see where companies might offer an insurance that covers the gap between them for a fee, you don't get any money from them until you tap the catastrophic coverage. The chances of a younger, healthier worker needing any money from such a policy would be low, but might rise over time. In ten years, give or take, the "gap" insurance would just not be needed.

It's an idea I got from the "gap" insurance I purchased as a condition of getting a low rate car loan from my credit union. They wanted protection from the difference between what my auto policy would pay them for a total loss, and what the value of the loan was. Since I pay off the car in the next year, the company writing the policy has virtually no exposure at this point, and if I were paying the premiums on a yearly basis (rather than right up front when I bought the car) I would find a way to drop it by now, even if that meant paying down more principle on the loan.

Still, I do favor single payer, but if we cannot get meaningful reform, it would be good for individuals to look into strategies to use existing law to protect themselves.

[lumberjack_jeff]

14. First, if you are forced out because of an illness, you won't be shit out of luck.

Second, over the next several years, existing group plans will be phased out in lieu of compliant ones.
Third, your employer will be mandated to provide at least 65% of the cost of decent coverage.