It occured to me that many of the people who are most supportive of "healthcare reform" without knowing what it is are simply supporting the concept of free insurance for themselves at the expense of the productive, contributing members of society. We have a guy at work who is working off a rather large medical bill garnishment...even though we have outstanding coverage, at very low rates available to us. He makes $50k+ a year (maybe more) and has declined coverage, so I asked him why. He simply didn't want to pay the $102/mo premium but now has nearly $1200/mo garnished after a motorcyle accident. Doesn't make a lot of sense, does it? He expressed his support for Obama's healthcare reform so other people wouldn't be in the same position he is in right now. What? I believe this guy is pretty typical. He had/has the opportunity take care of his own business but chooses not to. I asked him what would happen if Obama's plan forces him to participate in (and pay for) our insurance plan? Not really something he wanted to consider. He was also shocked when I explained it would probably end up costing more than the $102 he could be paying now due to the fact he has the ability to pay his own way & superior coverage is available to him. We discussed this for well over an hour at lunch the other day but I don't think I made any headway with him as he continues to pledge his unwavering support of Obama's healthcare reform even though he couldn't tell me where to find the details. I did stump him on this one: I asked what would happen if tomorrow Obama forced everyone to participate in their employer's 401k plans? His answer? "Obama can't do that...he can't tell us what to do with our hard earned money!" Right.
My insurance runs me $3.20 an hour, thats how it is figured based on a 40 hour week. If I had to pay tax on my gross and then pay insurance, it would be alot more.
