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November 29, 2009
More Excellent News for the Unemployed
COBRA subsidies are about to go away. Happy Holidays!
Unless Congress moves swiftly to extend the benefit, millions of other jobless Americans will experience the same sticker shock when they exhaust their subsidies and must pay full health insurance premiums, instead of just 35 percent.For many, the cost of coverage will triple, forcing cash-strapped unemployed workers to scramble for cheaper private coverage, go uninsured or suck it up like Hall and pay the higher rates.
With the subsidy, job-based coverage averages $398 per month for families and $144 for individuals, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Without it, premiums average $1,137 for a family and $410 for an individual.
Whenever I mention stories like this, I hear from wingnuts: These people should stop whining! They should just prioritize their lives and pay the premiums!
Uh-huh. So prioritize what? Sell your house? Your car? Feed off your kids' college fund until the jobs come back? Just to pay insurance premiums? Yeah, that's a great system.
Filed under: COBRA || Healthcare || Jobs || Stimulus
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Posted By Bob Cesca | November 29, 2009 4:37 PM
Comments
Step 2: Wave an ugly sign and ask "where's MY bailout money?!"
Posted by: Matt Osborne ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.bobcesca.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at November 29, 2009 4:48 PM
Step 3: Blame these folks for being laid off and not finding another job. I mean..come on, everyone knows there are plenty of jobs are out there......somewhere....right? Idiots!
Posted by: roxsteady at November 29, 2009 5:22 PM
See, it's stuff like this that makes many of us staunch democrats disenchanted with the party.
WHY have they not extended this benefit? They can't walk and do healthcare and chew gum at the same time?
Do we need like 80 senators to have a majority?
Would that help?
Where the hell IS everybody?
Posted by: Jan at November 29, 2009 5:56 PM
My deductible just went up $2,500 with two months notice. No mammograms for me. No illnesses for my children.
This means that I am paying up to $7500 per year for insurance THROUGH MY EMPLOYER.
God forbid I lose my job that I hate so much.
Posted by: ec at November 29, 2009 7:22 PM
A.B. Stoddard said on MSNBC this morning that health care or insurance are no longer a concern for Americans...
Posted by: ceu at November 29, 2009 7:40 PM
With a $7,500 deductible, it sorts of makes you wonder why you bother with the insurance, huh?
Insurance supporters want you to know that:
1. Private insurance is for profit, and that's goooooooood, cuz that drives competition!
2.Private insurance just wants to be your friend. Like the scary crocodile, who just wants to be loved, insurance companies just want to keep you healthy.
3. They don't really expect you to get sick. They just charge you like you are...just in case. You'll be glad they charged you all that money when you get sick, cuz then they'll save you...unless you forgot to dot the "i" on your twenty year old application, in which case they'll rescind your policy, and leave a nasty note about you on the insurance Medical Information Bureau, making it nearly impossible for you to get coverage...ever again.
4. Insurers are people, too!
5. All that lobbying money that insurance companies and industry groups spend in Washington is to make certain that the very best provisions and coverages are written into ANY contemplated legislation...provisions and coverages, I might add, that have been protecting the insurance industry from you for decades.
Posted by: Political Party Pooper at November 29, 2009 7:43 PM
