Argh.
I won't get into all that I think about this subject (it would take several days), but I just wanted to post a couple of effed-up examples that have had a personal effect:
I have an employee that needs surgery. Not life threatening, not dangerously, but at some point it will probably be necessary (more so than now). She was lined up for surgery before she started working at The 123 and some public fund was going to foot the bill.
And then she got the job here.
Once she had income, the funding for this surgery disappeared. Nothing.
So, what should she do? Quit? So she can have health care?
Hmmm.....
Let's reward those who don't work and screw those who do. Wonderful.
A few more details that irk the shit out of me:
- She started here at minimum wage and that was enough to cancel health care funding entirely. (Minimum Wage! She's supposed to pay for surgery on minimum wage!?)
- She's still working here (that's not the part that irks me - I love her and hope she wants to work for The 123 forever) and she still doesn't have health care. She's a hard worker and she's smart. She's the perfect employee.
- The 123 cannot offer health care (yet) because it's too expensive and we're too new and small.
- I (and my family) don't have health insurance right now either (so it's not like I can afford it for me and not for my employees), which brings me to the other thing...
My family and I don't have health insurance. We lost it along with my husband's job. Sure, we can continue with the COBRA plan, but it's not affordable.
Just how not affordable is it? It is more than $1,400. per month.
Yes, you read that correctly: $1,400. per month.
The amount for which my husband is eligible in unemployment compensation is less than that.
So, we can do a couple of different things:
1. pay for health insurance with the unemployment check (actually, after taxes -yes, they take taxes out of an unemployment check- it won't quite cover it for the month) and not eat or pay the bills
or
2. not have health insurance.
The health care system definitely needs some help.
People who work need coverage - even if they work at McDonald's.
McDonald's has a better opportunity of supplying health insurance to their employees than The 123 does just because of their size. However, there is no incentive to the corporation to take care of their employees.
I want The 123 to offer health insurance to employees at some time in the future. That would mean that I could have it for my family and my employees could have it, too.
I doubt that the CEO of McDonald's or Wal-Mart have to worry about health insurance.
We need to give them incentive to give it to employees, too, and we need to make it easier for small businesses to insure their employees.
Alright, I'll stop now, because this rant is headed for all the other problems of the health care system: filthy rich pharmaceutical companies, health services that cost more when you pay them out of pocket with no insurance, drug dependence....
I'm not posting this for sympathy, because quite honestly, we are much better off than a lot of families right now. As a matter of fact, The 123 is doing quite well. We're staying busy and getting busier, so we'll be just fine, as long as one of us doesn't break a leg or otherwise need medical attention anytime soon.
