I've stopped calling insurance payments "premiums"

kevinbgoode

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Mon Aug-10-09 12:24 AM
Original message

I've stopped calling insurance payments "premiums"

and have decided it is time to call them "taxes to the private corporation." As the alleged "discussion" unfolds in the media (well, as usual, the rightwing minority gets to do all of the talking - just like the town hall meetings becuz they are REAL Americans). . .it has finally dawned on me that the $700 a month my employer pays the private insurance group (and the $88 additional I pay - yes, I know I have good "insurance" but a whole list of deductables and co-pays) COULD be in my paycheck instead of being forced into a privatized "socialistic" for-profit "insurance" scheme.

I have no choice in this matter. Even when I was a student (and health "insurance" was the least expensive) it had become the LARGEST student fee bill each semester - and kept going UP. Now that I'm in the workforce, I didn't have any choices - three "options" as a "benefit."

Now I know that unions, especially, fought long and hard for benefits like these - and for decades they helped the American family in times of very unexpected medical situations. But the truth is, while private "insurance" actually used to be effective, it is increasingly INEFFECTIVE as an hedge to protect us. We already know that millions of Americans have no coverage. We already know that thousands actually die from lack of medical care. We know that millions file bankruptcy because the insurance doesn't do the job. The solution has been from private business, of course...offer SUPPLEMENTAL coverage, a supplemental tax - or "premium" which still doesn't cover most remaining expenses.

This isn't just about the awful cases of extreme medical bills. I had a simple outpatient operation in May and, even with good insurance, I still don't know the total of MY share, though it is certainly well over $1,000 (and I haven't looked at the surgery bills yet) . .and this is not a small amount to a person starting out.

If the Right is going to scream about taxes, then they need to man up and start screaming about these "premium" taxes being paid to corporations to deny people health coverage. All I hear about now are how patriotic these teabaggers are, standing up to the tyranny of the government. . .and yet I get absolute silence when I ask them if I can expect them to be screaming outside of Blue Cross-Blue Shield anytime soon. If we are supposed to be led to believe that we are enslaved to corporations without any negotiation, any choice, any say, any vote, and certainly any town hall meetings, and private insurance is the ONLY thing allowed to cover our needs, then I think it's time to call those payments "taxes to the private corporation."

Ok...now I've had my rant. But money is money, folks...if these people are going to whine about being "taxed" for single-payer or public option or what looks like will be some health care industry relief bill, then its time we started whining about paying "taxes" to corporations without any say in their operation. If my labor is costing me $788 a month (and for many of you, much higher) then why isn't this as offensive as paying taxes to the government? It's like a donation to a private corporation which can, at any time, alter, abrogate, abridge, reject, or terminate their contract.