General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMy RW boss received an $1100 refund check from our health insurance company
and he is pissed. He is reflexively anti-Obama about everything. I will give him credit however, when we argue about politics, he keeps it professional. He'll get mad, but he usually doesn't get personal. So we have some spirited conversations.
Our insurance carrier sent our company an $1100 refund check. This sent the boss into a tizzy. He started ranting about "free money doesn't exist," (whatever that means) and that the country was going bankrupt because of policies like this. I explained that the money was previously being kept by the health insurance company, which brought nothing to the table, and the ACA mandated there were caps on revenue, so now the excess flows back to him.
He was still upset. I finally fell back on the same canard that the RWers use when we complain about tax cuts. I said "send it back to the insurance company, or even the government debt relief fund, if it offends you so much." He said no, Obama would just waste it. I said, "Ok, send it to Romney's campaign. You're a big Romney guy." He responded with a weak "no."
So, he's going to keep it, but he hates it. Here we have it folks, someone who was reimbursed by an insurance company because they are being made to cap profits and divert that money to care. And he's still pissed. There is no reaching these people.
I'm typing fast and don't have time proofread, apologies for any typos, malapropisms, or general dumb-assery. I am not the greatest storyteller. Just wanted to share.
coalition_unwilling
(14,180 posts)reaching him justifies the effort, you might plant some 'concentration of wealth' factoids into your conversations. No need to cast blame. The mere assertion that the 6 Walmart heirs control as much wealth between them as the bottom 30 million Americans should give any non-1%er pause, I would think.
SharonAnn
(13,778 posts)It's that simple.
They're only allowed to charge a certain percentage over the cost of what they cover.
They charged him too much.
obxhead
(8,434 posts)One day he's gonna be rich and use those tax loopholes to screw people just like him!
NightWatcher
(39,343 posts)And it's pissing him off. Enjoy your Happy Dance of the SelfRighteous today.
KeepItReal
(7,769 posts)Enjoy the show
rfranklin
(13,200 posts)does not exist any more than the "workers' paradise" that we used to hear about.
savalez
(3,517 posts)mopinko
(70,197 posts)is there?
Oilwellian
(12,647 posts)If not, you will probably get a refund on part of the percentage you paid as well.
Secretly, you have to know, your boss is loving his refund.
reflection
(6,286 posts)my wife has better insurance, and so I am on hers.
He is a decent guy, as right wingers go.
If I am able to change him, it will be in the way that a rock in a stream is changed by erosion. Slowly and deliberately. But truly, I think he is beyond help. He is ultra-religious, the sort that will help on a micro-level, one-to-one. I've seen him in action. But he has no macro view of these things.
In other words, he'll help individuals, but programs which help large groups of people are evil and counterproductive to him because they foster dependence, sloth and such. Unless they are programs which help corporations, those are ok.
(In fact, now that I type this, I need to point out that if corporations are people, then corporate welfare should be no different to him than personal welfare. I think I just had an epiphany. But he'll probably fall back on the 'job creator' line and 'no poor person ever gave me a job canard.)
onehandle
(51,122 posts)'Free money doesn't exist.'
meaculpa2011
(918 posts)My health insurance rates have gone up 40% in the past three years and have more than doubled in the past ten. Close to $1,500 per month for a family of four.
Now they're gonna send me $138... maybe.
SalviaBlue
(2,917 posts)But that would be socialism.
meaculpa2011
(918 posts)might be marginally better, but I doubt it.
What we need is to do away with health insurance entirely. The health insurance model, whether private or public, puts the power in the hands of the bureaucrats while providers remain driven by the need to maximize profits.
Single provider is the only way to take the profit out of healthcare.
If it works for the VA and NHS it can work for all.
My Dad gets all of his heathcare (including dental, hearing, eye care) through the VA and his treatment is extraordinary.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)... investors in London, Hong Kong and Tokyo.
4th law of robotics
(6,801 posts)begin_within
(21,551 posts)He should be fired for it.
reflection
(6,286 posts)DenverDad
(353 posts)1. This isn't "free money". This is money that HIS company paid (or overpaid) to an insurance company, and is now being refunded.
AND
2. Because this refund comes from an insurance company and NOT the government, it won't bankrupt the nation and certainly won't add to the deficit.
klook
(12,164 posts)"free money." some of them will never let reality kill their fantasies.
savalez
(3,517 posts)Was he mad about that?
ieoeja
(9,748 posts)Bush spent the election saying we should cut taxes because the economy was good. When the economy turned sour, he said we should cut taxes because the economy was bad.
Democrats only agreed to the tax holiday if we included a $300 pre-emptive tax refund. Bush agreed then made certain every check was emblazoned with "Bush Tax Cut".
All in all, one of the Democratic Party's stupidiest moves.
savalez
(3,517 posts)I still wonder how the OP's boss felt.
Yikes, that's some logic.
pepperbear
(5,648 posts)it's either a discount or it implies that one payed too much in the first place.
Lex
(34,108 posts)Because that's what he's been doing.
NNN0LHI
(67,190 posts)reflection
(6,286 posts)and I think there is validity to it. But that's not this guy's hot button. He's just eaten up with the 'socialist' and 'you didn't build that' type stuff, whatever they tell him to hear on the local AM radio station, where we have RW talk radio from dawn to dusk. His stance is rooted purely in emotion, most of it loathing for Obama.
When Obama won in 2008, I brought in a bunch of donuts and offered him a glazed O as a peace offering, since we clashed a lot leading up to the election. He wasn't happy about that either but ate the donut. I think I see a pattern...
Blanks
(4,835 posts)Of course hate radio doesn't like Obama; he doesn't own their sorry asses.
tjwash
(8,219 posts)...he's the type of boss who will say "I screwed you on your performance eval, but I feel real bad about it"
reflection
(6,286 posts)Like I said elsewhere in the thread, great at one-on-one relationships, horrible at seeing the larger picture. I definitely work for an unusual company.
TeamPooka
(24,248 posts)Courtesy Flush
(4,558 posts)If you over-pay your taxes, they give you the money back. If you over-pay your insurance premiums, same thing.
LondonReign2
(5,213 posts)So he is mad that a corporation can no longer enrich itself (as much) at his expense? He is siding with excess corporate profits over his own wallet? That doesn't make sense even for a right winger.
I think someone above nailed it: he is mad only because he was wrong about the ACA and now his nose is being rubbed in it.
NNN0LHI
(67,190 posts)SunSeeker
(51,662 posts)I think this boss is just one of those Fox News brainwashed racist a-holes that reflexively hates anything connected with Obama.
But he did keep the check.
Pakid
(478 posts)If this fool own the business it a miracle that it still in business If he just runs it for someone else who have to wonder just how stupid they are to have hired this fool to run it!
reflection
(6,286 posts)one is an extremely informed liberal, very far to the left.
one is a minimally informed conservative, very far to the right (this is the guy in the OP)
one is a completely politically uninformed conservative, VERY far to the right.
I admit they are all very nice people on a micro level. Good bosses. It's their macro policies that really highlight their differences.
It takes any two of them to make something happen. Surprisingly, most of the policy ends up being shaped by the liberal boss. His arguments are generally so airtight and well-constructed that they can't successfully be countered. And most of the employees gravitate to this guy as well. He is the unofficial alpha male of the three bosses.
The model works, surprisingly. We are turning great profits and by and large, most people are happy (except when the they get eeeeevil rebate checks in the mail. )
arcane1
(38,613 posts)I suspect, like many have already said, he's mad because an Obama policy actually benefited him
Proud Liberal Dem
(24,436 posts)Well, I'm sure the envelope has a return address and the insurance provider won't mind.
CanonRay
(14,112 posts)for putting up with his bullshit.
bulloney
(4,113 posts)This country has gotten so politically polarized that I think most people would cut off their noses to spite their faces if it was in line with their politics.
spooky3
(34,467 posts)OP's boss needs to read the letter that accompanied the check.
DaveJ
(5,023 posts)He doesn't know how to evade taxes on the $1,100 check. Or perhaps it foils some other aspect of his accounting.
Blanks
(4,835 posts)...that taxes have been going up because even though they've gotten a raise they take home less money. Meanwhile their insurance rates are what have been increasing.
If be interested to know what percentage of people toil away angrily under that misconception.
Obviously your boss isn't in this category, but people are surprisingly stupid.
Tsiyu
(18,186 posts)Someone saying, "Just got a check from my insurance co and I am PISSED."
I can only assume they are pissed because:
A) They don't want to admit that the evil Kenyan Socialist Muslim Marxist could do anything economically to help the "job creators."
B) They know there will be a lot of happy people getting a little break in life due to this, and they're afraid they may vote for Obama because of it.
These are people who do not want a better nation, when you look at how they act. They only wish to be RIGHT about their fantasies and illusions and hatred. Who cares if people overpaid before, taking money out of our economy? Who cares if ACA makes insurance companies do what they're supposed to do?
You've really got to be nuts to think a rebate - extra cash - is something to be upset about. Proving - rightwingers are NUTSO.
grantcart
(53,061 posts)the state lobbyists who allow the health insurance companies to overcharge him, up until now.
In Texas 92% of the policies will be getting a refund.
In Hawaii none.
He's been ripped off for years.
JI7
(89,262 posts)they can't stand that Obama is right.
hahha, love the no to the romney campaign though.
reflection
(6,286 posts)He revealed that he is voting for Romney, even though, quote, "Mormons are nutjobs. Anybody but Obama, though."
All you can with a guy like that is continue to throw his knowledge balls. If he chooses not to catch them, so be it. Maybe someone around him will catch one or two.
Zoeisright
(8,339 posts)I mean, a real, real stupid idiot. Sounds racist too.
Tennessee Gal
(6,160 posts)Is it a United States government check? Of course not! It is a check from the insurance company. Therefore, that statement he made exhibits excessive stupidity.
One way to make a valid point with him would be to search for the profits made annually by that insurance company and show them to him. That company has been over charging and now that is being stopped. This is a good thing to any logical person.
area51
(11,919 posts)Actually, our country is going bankrupt due to a huge military, black ops organizations, and multiple wars of choice.
southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)back pedal all they want. You answered him the right way. They never know what to say when you give them that type of answer. I bet though he'll save it for a rainy day.
Gman
(24,780 posts)That's why they had to give this back to you.
crazylikafox
(2,761 posts)reflection
(6,286 posts)I wish I had been quick enough to think of that.
Opportunity lost.
Gman
(24,780 posts)"you know, I've been thinking about what you said about no free money, and you're right..."
Maybe he'll think about it differently.
notadmblnd
(23,720 posts)he's pissed because he was wrong. Wrong on all counts of his reasoning. Pissed because he believed all the BS sold to him. I'd bet your boss almost never admits that he is wrong about anything.
kestrel91316
(51,666 posts)(you know, suppliers and such), does he choose THIS one to be unhappy about a refund with???
Any other company he deals with, if they admitted they overcharged and sent a refund, he'd be thrilled.
RWers are clinically insane.