"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast" -Oscar Wilde |
"The liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth, shall be watered also himself." -- Proverbs 11:25 |
As businesses contend with rising costs, many workers face an erosion of health benefits next year, according to an annual survey released Tuesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust.
Forty percent of employers surveyed said they are likely to increase the amount their workers pay out of pocket for doctor visits. Almost as many said they are likely to raise annual deductibles and the amount workers pay for prescription drugs.
Nine percent said they plan to tighten eligibility for health benefits; 8 percent said they plan to drop coverage entirely. Forty-one percent of employers said they are "somewhat" or "very" likely to increase the amount employees pay in premiums -- though that would not necessarily mean employees would pay a higher percentage of the premiums. Employers could simply be passing along the same share of the overall increase that they are doing this year.
The authors of the study said the findings underscore the need for federal action to rein in costs.
The survey is one of several reports providing fresh ammunition to President Obama as he struggles to overhaul the nation's health-care system. One of his biggest challenges has been winning over Americans who are satisfied with their existing coverage.
A major business lobby weighed in Tuesday, saying that if current trends continue, annual health-care costs for employers will rise 166 percent over the next decade -- to $28,530 per employee.
"Maintaining the status quo is simply not an option," said Antonio M. Perez, chief executive of Eastman Kodak and a leader of the Business Roundtable. "These costs are unsustainable and would put millions of workers at risk," Perez said in a statement.
Labels: American Idiots, health care
No, it isn't. And you don't see me defending it, do you? Or any other liberal bloggers, either. Because unlike YOUR side of the fence, we don't march in lockstep when our leaders go down the wrong path. But then, you're too busy fantasizing about fucking Sarah Palin to realize that.
Indeed, I don't see you mentioning it at all. Odd, that.
do yourself a favor - there is no arguing with people like that.
i just hope when the whole medical system comes crashing down on its own weight --- some of the teabaggers and glenbeckidols are the first to suffer
amazing. idiocy is more contagious than H1N1
Brilliant, you mention $1500 monthly health insurance payments. I only bring home about $1800, so that would definitely be a deal breaker for me as well as tons of people.
I just got my Asperger's syndrome (autism scale) daughter signed up for a community health care non-profit. She is being billed on a sliding scale and as she can only work part time it will be well affordable. My son, who is 24 and a senior in college has no health coverage and to his dismay learned what one of the big issues is this summer when he was hit in the head with a wakeboard and had to go to the emergency room and get 5 staples in his scalp. Total bill? $1500, which he doesn't have due to the 12% unemployment in our state.
I work where I do mainly for the health coverage even though I have co-pays on the premiums and on other things. I freelance in writing and photography which I would love to do full time but I cannot figure out how to do so as since I am divorced and the sole support for myself and my 2 kids I can't go without health insurance for the length of time needed to build up my business to be able to pay for health insurance and I can't build up a business in writing and photography while I am working full time. Terrific catch 22.