[Rap]

Narrow question here. Under the new law at the start date employers with over 50 employees are fined for not offering insurance to their employee's. Apart from being a carefully constructed ruse to encourage employers to end their insurance coverage and pay the fine, what do you all think about an executive faced with this decision? If your a publically traded company, do you have a fiduciary responsibility to your shareholders to do this. We are a very small company, 120 employees, if we were to do this it would mean an immediate increase to the bottom line of +1 million. Hence my comment carefully constructed ruse!

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[tamathumper]

You're publicly traded with only 120 employees?



Considering the un-constitutionality of it all, and braving what could become the second "legalize marijuana" topic, I say the responsibility is to the shareholders, especially if the alternative is to force insurance on the employees.



Thankfully, I only have a dozen employees so far.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Rap]

Sorry for the confusion. Used publically traded as the example for fiduciary responsibilities. Used us as an example of the impact this could have on a small company. Not publically traded of course. This example shows the bind the new law puts on decision makers. And it's called a penalty not a tax! Just think, with little or no chance that premiums won't continue their almost preconditioned increase, the double whammy is the new law will make it unaffordable to continue paying for existing insurance after a period of time. Our costs go up dramatically every year with the knowledge that a tipping point of inability to pay these premiums will eventually occur. This part was certainly a well constructed eventual nudge.

By the way Tama, I know your brave enough for another legalize pot thread!! Lol

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[tamathumper]

A penalty is a tax for doing bad. A tax is a penalty for doing good.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Rap]

Democrats give it away, Republicans take it away. Spoken to me by a astute magistrate.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[rxter]

Depends on the amount of the fine and whether you want your employees covered. I decent insurance program can be the difference in landing talent for a start-up or small firm.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Chris Vais]

A tough call, speaking as one who recently has become unemployed, the cost of having to provide my own health insurance as I search for a new job is shockingly expensive. I'm fortunate in that the severance I received has provided me with the cash to pay for my own insurance for the time it will take me to secure a new job. Most of the people who loose jobs in this country are not so lucky.



The cost of caring for the uninsured is a tax that we all end up paying because the uninsured do get treatment, in most cases in public medical facilities such as the county hospital ER. Your taxes pay for the care provided to the uninsured and indigent. You also pay for it through higher medical costs which you pay and through increasing insurance premiums to cover cost of medical care for people who have no access to insurance.



I think there is a strong case to be made for mandatory or universal health care if you prefer, unless you are prepared to turn away the unemployed and indigent at the door. I can't believe that Americans would do that but the current crop of Republican presidential hopefuls makes we wonder.



Now if you really want to take a radical approach, socialize medical care, and get rid of the health insurance companies altogether. Sure your income tax might increase a bit to pay for it, but I'll wager it would be less than the cost of your insurance coverage and out of pocket expenses.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Rap]

Medicaid roles could be expanded to cover the uninsured. Talking about how much costs of insurance in terms of correcting this problem dooms it to failure. It is in the delivery of care and how that's done where the real answers lie. Everyone should have insurance coverage of some sort. We are too wealthy of a country and it makes too much economic sense not to.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[craigawoodman]

Bec areful of what you wish for. In Australia, we have Medicare, which costs 1.5% of your taxable income, sets the fees that Doctors "should" charge and only reimburses around 65% of these fees. Guess what, Doctors charge lots more than the "recommended" fees and the benefit is still the same, so we pay the difference. Unless you have private insurance, forget any form of public hospital treatment for at least 2 years unless it is life threatening.



We also have laws that unless you are in a private health fund by age 31, the premiums increase by 2% for every year thereafter. We used to get 30% of our private health insurance back (employers don't pay this - we do), but now the Government is going to "means test" this (i.e. you earn lots and pay more tax, you get less). The system provides everything for the poor and absolutely nothing for those with an income.



I would rather have no medicare and only private health insurance and the public health system has to compete with the private system. Over here, Governments invest Millions in builting new hospitals, which are then staffed by Government workers who don't give a damn and are massively inefficient.



Public health, look at Britian where it has nearly sent them broke.



We have another problem with subsidised pharmacy drugs. The cost of these subsidies is in the Billions of dollar per year. Got to love socialism.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[tamathumper]

I've never heard a good argument about social programs that included a means to deal with the lazy... In America today, the tagline is "Pay Your Fair Share", but there's no call whatsoever to "Do Your Fair Share". I think if we had both in place, there'd be far less hue and cry?

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[craigawoodman]

Read Atlas Shrugged - it was written in the 1930's and is applicable today. If more people simply got off their arse and helped out - we would all be in a better place. We need to support those that contribute, those that choose not to, do not deserve our support until they contribute. We can all contribute in some way to make our society a better place to be. We need to end the culture of entitlement based on taking from those that do and giving it to those that don't.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[tamathumper]

Great suggestion, I read it some time ago. Then I figuratively cried because we're such slow learners... There are Roman and even Babylonian verses warning against just such circumstances as we are allowing today.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Rap]

50 million is the bandied about number of uninsured. Medicaid already exists. So put them on it. In Pa. It's called medical assistance. The rolls have exploded since the start of the downturn. There are abuses and things could be done to tighten it up, but it provides insurance if you qualify. This is pretty easy to do. In fact in certain instances it works better and has better coverage than commercial insurance. So instead of changing an entire system, provide coverage for those without, set guidelines so people aren't allowed to abuse or dump their current insurance. Then with that bought time work on slowly fixing the current mess. I agree with personal responsibility and encouraging people to work. Clinton did it to the welfare rolls in the 90's and it worked! My Canadian relatives laugh at us for this idiotic nationalization of health care that is being attempted. Social welfare has its place but not when it rules societies and sucks money out, creates unsustainable entitlements and encourages less self reliance.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.