Affordable Health Care Plan

Many people in the USA are looking for more affordable health care owing to the continued increase in premiums. Whilst increased premiums are part of the reason, many employers are reducing the level of cover due to budgetary cutbacks. I know this because before 2006 I had a really good health care package with my company but it has got worse this year. Suddenly, my employer announced it was getting too expensive and was switching health care providers.

The excuse was that they were trying to ensure the new package would help everyone in the company. Some people will argue of course, that my new insurance is still fantastic and I am fortunate to have it. To some extent I do agree, but their search for another provider now costs me double the money from my paychecks to have my husband and daughter on my policy. Without a pay increase, my paychecks are now much smaller just so that my family can have cover.

To be honest, I got on well with the old provider but cannot see that happening here even if the health care plan is half decent. To my mind the whole point of providing this *new* affordable health care scheme was a cost cutting exercise for the company which just meant greater expense for some of their employees. I know this because my old plan paid all of my hospital expenses when I had my little girl just over 4 years ago. I sat and worked out the cost of this new plan and if I were to stay in hospital now and have a baby it would cost around 4,000 dollars out of my own pocket.

You also have to bear in mind that this additional expense is just the hospital bill and doesn’t include the additional work fees I must now pay. There is obviously a market for these schemes because more and more affordable health care options are becoming available. Those less fortunate can now get free health care more readily and workers without health care are able to join special schemes. Whilst I appreciate these programs because they are saving lives and helping people to grow stronger and healthier, some people take advantage of them.

Those programs should be for struggling families who are taking steps to better their futures, not for people who have no motivation and live off of the state systems and affordable health care programs. We often forget who is ultimately paying for these schemes; us, the taxpayer. My employer definitely found advantages in finding a lower cost health plan provider for their employees! All too often this happens where the only one that really benefits is the company, who seem quite happy that many of their employees will take home less. Providing health care which is affordable for Americans needs to be dealt with sooner rather than later.