So, Wednesday morning, I got a shock. Talking to the office manager, I find that not only is my healthcare going WAY up (another $300 a month), but that I was supposed to choose 2 days before what I was going to do but I never got the paper or knew. Ugh. Immediate chest pains and stomach. Ugh. $1750 a month?! That’s like $21,000 a year?!? WTF? I can’t afford that. I was already in serious trouble since last year’s increase of $300. a month. Aaiiiheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, FUCK!
When I got home and had time to breathe, I called my car insurance place and wonderful Jennifer there gave me a number to call. Turns out I can get a “silver plan” which is ca. $409. for both the wife and I. Co-pays are less, except for specialists, but the deductible is more, about $3k, but I’m sorry, I cannot pay what they want on the old plan–how can anyone?
As it is, the “Health and welfare” portion of my check, ca. $860. or so a month, well, I can’t use that–only for the company insurance. See, due to the evil machinations of a company I used to work for (no, not the Bad Horsey), most mail contractors don’t pay you the health and welfare money anymore, so as to save on their payroll tax. So, I can’t actually USE the money meant for m insurance unless I buy the company insurance which costs over 4 times what the one I got on the market cost??! 😮 What they do, is put that money in a 401k account. Joy. Hell, the last company, Bad Horsey, well all of it went into the 401k and in the end, he shafted me out of about $20k. Nice huh? A friend too. Wonderful guy who is going to go to jail to learn the lesson that theft and misuse of pension funds is a felony. The government (who is prosecuting him) say he owes our pension plan like $1.8 MILLION dollars–I’ll never see any of it. Anyway, so… with this way, I will have $860 or so in my 401lk each month, still have decent insurance and get a little more in my check each payday (still keeping me poor, but not NEARLY as poor as if I had kept w/ the other insurance). Wow, perhaps I will get to retire someday… I doubt it, but maybe.
Don’t get me wrong, the company insurance wasn’t bad, just expensive… but… I certainly wasn’t thrilled to find out that I had been paying $100 a month more to be out of state either. It had a $1700. deductible.
What I want
Many of my friends call me a “socialist” or some shit because I want single payer health care. Sorry, I believe health care is a basic right. Sorry Fritz, I do. Anyway, the system that we had before was pretty sucky and while the intent was good, the application of Obamacare made things INFINITELY WORSE! “Why can’t we go back? say some. Because, with the advent of Obamacare, the genie is out of the bottle, not to be put back in. M brother Jim thins perhaps it was planned this way to force single-payer. Maybe, I don’t know. I do know that yes, we will pay more taxes for it, but then I won’t be paying nearly the rapacious amount health insurance costs. Organized thievery with no real concern for health.
Many, including Fritzel and my friend Tim, think the government cannot be trusted to run it. Perhaps. But I see no real solution.
Life Goes On
Hopefully, this will help get things back on track with me. I am also working to re-fi the house. It would be done by now, but hit a snag. When I was unemployed due to the shithead ex-owner of Bad Horsey (see how I don’t mention any real names in here…), I got behind on my mortgage and had to get it modified. Somehow, and I don’t remember this at all, they put the difference in a second to be paid off when I sell. It’s taking some time to do, I think it’s called, a subordination. It will be worth it though, as it will lower the mortgage–not as much as I want, but even a little over $100 a month will help.
RiB