Hi Readers,
Wow It has been a long time since I have posted here, although I have had a lot of thoughts. I have been busy setting up a website on Wrodpress.org, something that I hope to launch in the next few weeks (Scary thought!!)
So today I want to talk about some things that puzzle me about the reaction in this country to the Affordable Care Act. I have in the past run my own business as an independent practitioner. At that time, buying a good health insurance policy was very difficult and very expensive. It was one of those things that I worried about. I also had a friend who could not retire (although he was well beyond the age when he would have retired) because his wife was ill and needed his health insurance. (Anybody who thinks it is easy to get Disability Social Security doesn’t know anyone who has tried. Believe me, it is a long and difficult process.) So there are a lot of people who do not retire, only because they or a family member need the insurance that is provided through work.
So there are two reasons so far to embrace the State or Federal Exchanges: they make is possible for more people to start their own businesses because they would be able to get affordable health insurance.
It would be easier for people to retire if a family member had a chronic illness and needed good health insurance.
A third reason is the position of businesses. Small or large, the cost of health insurance has to be a major drag on their profits. Selecting health insurance packages for employees is a major problem for them every year as the fall approaches. How do they find good affordable insurance for their employees? Will valuable employees leave when the products that are selected by the company are not sufficient to meet the needs of those employees?
Suppose that instead of supplying health insurance the companies increased the salaries of the employees, and encouraged them to buy their own insurance on the state or federal exchanges? Employees would get the insurance policy that met their needs, and the company would save themselves the yearly task of identifying and advertising the selected basket of insurance options for their employees.
This third reason is the one that has puzzled me the most. If you are in favor of business, especially small business, why wouldn’t you welcome the Affordable Care Act as a way to encourage the growth of businesses?
Any other thoughts on this?
retirelazyandhappy 