The Cellar - Impeding changes to our Health Care system

So far, I'm digging Obamacare. But I reserve the right to change my mind as more becomes clear.

But a couple days ago I got a letter from CIGNA, my health insurance company through my employer. Apparently Obamacare requires that insurance companies must spend at least 85% of the money they collect from premiums on actual health care. In 2011, CIGNA spent 75.8% of their premium money on healthcare. Under Obamacare, they MUST refund the difference (9.2%) to my employer by 8/1/12, and my employer must follow certain rules to distribute the rebate to me.

So the next day, HR sent out an email to the employees saying that they had no idea this was coming, and that they needed a little time to figure out how to distribute the funds back to the employees.

But the thing is, I spent a few thousand dollars on health care premiums on 2011 for my family of four, so to get around 9.2% of that back is going to be a beautiful windfall and really help, either as a check or maybe it will be used to reduce premiums next year.

Thank you, Obama!

It took a couple months to show up in my paycheck, but I just got my Obamacare rebate. My portion of the rebate was $390 after taxes. That's real money. Thank you, Obama!

And I should note that it's open enrollment time for insurance for next year, and the costs have gone up again, but by the same amount as they did last year, and less than the year before. So Obamacare doesn't seem to be driving up premium prices. My personal anecdotal evidence says that so far, it is working better than the old way.

I still reserve the right to judge it differently as more data comes in, but so far, so good.

Spexxvet

10-31-2012 09:35 AM

My Rxs appear to have come down in price. I don't know if it's directly or even indirectly due to Obamacare, but I likey!

infinite monkey

10-31-2012 09:50 AM

My mom's best buddy, a repub, admitted how much she and her husband were saving on their medications thanks to Obamacare. Seniors on a fixed income...who do they think they are catching a break? They should pull themselves up by their orthopedic shoes.

Lamplighter

10-31-2012 09:54 AM

Quote:

It took a couple months to show up in my paycheck, but I just got my Obamacare rebate.
My portion of the rebate was $390 after taxes. That's real money.
Thank you, Obama!

... it's time for a Mental Health Day party

:celebrat:

piercehawkeye45

10-31-2012 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glatt (Post 836542)

Obama giving rebates right before the election?? Typical Chicago politics...

glatt

10-31-2012 10:00 AM

:lol:

infinite monkey

10-31-2012 10:02 AM

I think it's a "wake the fuck up and here's some hard evidence for you..."

Instead of listening to Romney say nothing has changed, nothing is better. Like the radio ads that make it seem like Romney has shot China right in the face then stomped all over them 'cause he's SO against outsourcing.

Fudging liar extraordinaire.

glatt

10-31-2012 10:40 AM

The timing has nothing to do with Obama. The Republican controlled Supreme Court ruled the law constitutional, and the insurance companies immediately started to comply by announcing these rebates. It took my firm a couple months to figure out how to fairly distribute the rebate sent by the insurance company.

I credit Obama because it's Obamacare, but the timing was due to the ineptness of my firm in processing the payment that it received in August.

Happy Monkey

11-15-2012 05:37 PM

Super asshole right here.

Quote:

While some business owners threaten to cut workers' hours to avoid paying for their health care, a West Palm Beach, Fla., restaurant owner is going even further. John Metz said he will add a 5 percent surcharge to customers' bills to offset what he said are the increased costs of Obamacare, along with reducing his employees' hours.

"If I leave the prices the same, but say on the menu that there is a 5 percent surcharge for Obamacare, customers have two choices. They can either pay it and tip 15 or 20 percent, or if they really feel so inclined, they can reduce the amount of tip they give to the server, who is the primary beneficiary of Obamacare," Metz told The Huffington Post. "Although it may sound terrible that I'm doing this, it's the only alternative. I've got to pass the cost on to the consumer."

Charge more, if your costs go up? Fine. If your margin is low, you've got no choice.

Defend your decision by saying "hey, no problem! You can tip less to punish your waiter for getting health insurance!"? Asshole award.

Not to mention that he likely cut the hours of that employee you're going to tip less, in order to avoid paying for their healthcare anyway.

bluecuracao

11-15-2012 07:40 PM

How about if customers skip tipping completely at this douchebag's restaurants? Then he will be forced to pay his waitstaff the federal minimum wage, which would be over $5 more than their 'tipped' hourly wage. Tips at Denny's are probably pretty low to begin with.

SamIam

11-15-2012 09:22 PM

According to the link, Metz owns about 40 Denny's, never mind his other franchise operations, etc. The man is obviously not struggling to get by, but he wants to make sure his employees get plunged into poverty just so he can make a self serving political statement.

A meal at Denny's seldom costs more than $20.00/person. 5% of that comes to ONE DOLLAR. Well, that's sure going to wreck havoc with everyone's ability to eat at Denny's. Metz could just raise his prices by a buck, and hardly anyone would notice.

But no. Instead he has to cause his employees financial hardship by cutting their hours and making customers wonder if they should tip at all. I hope every last person who works for Metz finds another job and quits. What a loser!

DanaC

11-16-2012 02:39 AM

If people like Metz paid their workers a decent wage in the first place then Obamacare may not have been needed at all. If employers weren't expecting their employees to work for a pittance that doesn't accomodate health insurance, then there would have been no need to insist they pay towards their employees' healthcare.

If you cannot afford to pay your staff a living wage (enough to pay for insurance, or incoporating healthcare as part of the package) then you cannot afford those staff. Too many employers treat wages and employee benefits as a variable and contingent cost, which can be moulded around their profit margin. If a business can only be profitable by paying less than a living wage then it is not a good business.

The cost of doing business must include decent and fair remuneration for staff.

glatt

11-16-2012 07:30 AM

But people eat at Denny's because it is cheap, not because the food is good. If you pay the workers better, the price of the food will have to go up, and people will tend to stop eating there. They will go to a better restaurant for the same high price, or more likely, stay home and heat up a frozen dinner. Then the owner will have to lay off workers.

You have to strike a balance for sure, but at the Denny's end of the spectrum, there isn't a lot of money to play around with. It's not some five star restaurant where you pay $150 for a meal for two.

Lamplighter

11-16-2012 08:28 AM

Quote:

If people like Metz paid their workers a decent wage in the first place then Obamacare may not have been needed at all.

But talking about the staff at Denny's or any food-serving business is another cocoon.

The US has this tradition for food-servicing staff of $1/hr + tips, or some such formula.
For some, this leads to decent or even very high incomes; but for others
it's a last-ditch job to have any income at all, or for others it is something in between.

I hate bartering for goods or services (think: car salesmen and tipping waiters or waitresses :eyebrow:)
but in the US it is futile to try to find a way around this tradition.

It's this rigid tradition that keeps the Metz's of the food-service world in business.

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