Free health care is not free. I know this is a long read, but if youre sitting on the fence about whether the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) is a good thing or not, please read on. I got the mandated Affordable Care Act Notice from my employer the other day. Every employee is supposed to get one, but most dont take the time to read it. I would encourage you all to read yours. I must say that I am VERY grateful for my company and what they are doing to keep my costs down. They said that they are going to keep our health benefits the same in 2014, but werent sure if they would be able to afford to do so again in 2015. Here is why. My company pays 100% of the health insurance premium for my entire family. The increased cost of premiums in 2014 is $2.2 Million, and they are going to cover that cost. In addition, my health insurance plan is considered to be a Cadillac Plan under ACA guidelines, and is subject to a 40% tax. My company is picking up the tab for the tax at a cost of $8.8 Million. The total ADDITIONAL insurance cost (attributable to the ACA) to my company in 2014 is $10.4 Million. Now Im sure that the less conservative of my friends will say that my greedy company can afford to lose $10.4 Million. After all, they are a global company with profits in the $ Hundreds of Millions, if not $ Billions. They are only going to lose maybe 1% or 2% of their profits. I suppose they have a point, but I would like to turn the tables a little. Lets suppose you have a salary of $85K. Your take home pay is somewhere around $60K. Now lets say the government grabs $50 every month from your checking account (1% of your net pay). What would you have done with that money? Here is what I might do ... Take my wife to Spring Creek Barbecue. Twice! (Or Whataburger three times.) Pay the guy to cut my grass. Twice! Purchase groceries for about four days. Including the good meat! Fill my gas tank. Twice! Purchase a pair of shoes. Upgrade to the good internet. You get the point. No, its not major and I could certainly adjust to less money. But what happens in 2015 if my company cant afford to do these things anymore. Assuming the prices dont go up further (which is a pretty naive assumption), I will likely need to spend in the neighborhood of an additional $850. PER MONTH! Here is what I might do with $850 each month. Purchase a Lexus. (Or two Chevrolets.) Purchase a $175,000 home. Save for our retirement. Take a nice vacation with my wife. Give to my church. Perform an act of charity. Eat every meal with my wife at Spring Creek Barbecue and Whataburger - Breakfast, Lunch and Supper. Purchase a three month supply of groceries. Fill my gas tank 30 times. Purchase 17 pairs of shoes. Purchase the good internet for the whole year. Just imagine if EVERYBODY is in the same situation. What will this do to our already sluggish economy? The bottom line is this. - Free health care is not free. And affordable health care is not affordable. Please refuse to continue to elect representatives that dont get this concept.
Posted on: Fri, 08 Nov 2013 16:52:27 +0000