As I was not officially employed, I was eligible for unemployment benefits for the time I was not working and also offered health coverage under the COBRA plan. Under the COBRA plan, though, I would have ended up paying more than half of my unemployment for coverage with my old insurer.
Now that I live in France, I pay very little for my health coverage and enjoy pretty good service here in the rural country side on a level that does not exist in the United States, even if you could pay for it.
Sarkozy is trying to force the French to pay more and he is cutting back on health services, but already the backlash of watching what 2 years ago was the #1 Health Servioce in the world slip to #7 is getting a little too much for the French people to bear. Watch this isssue become a flash point here in the next few weeks.
COBRA is great in theory, but lousy in reality.
In 1985, Congress passed legislation enabling newly unemployed Americans to extend their employer-based health insurance for up to 18 months. But under the program, known as COBRA, the individual must pay 102 percent of the policy's full cost.
It's too expensive. COBRA has never made much sense to me because if you have just lost your job, how are you going to find enough money for insurance? Where do you find a spare $1000+ per month to insure a family when you don't have a job? Sure, having easy access to health insurance is great but the costs - especially today - are well out of reach.
The cost of buying health insurance for unemployed Americans who try to purchase coverage through a former employer consumes 30 percent to 84 percent of standard unemployment benefits, according to a report released yesterday.Instead of cash handouts and yet another round of business tax deductions, solving problems like this ought to be considered first. It would be nice to think that our next President who ran on a campaign of change would actually target change instead of the same old, same old. Is that really asking for too much? What do you think?
Because few people can afford that, the authors say, the result is a growing number of people being hit with the double whammy of no job and no health coverage.
4 comments:
I think every person should have access to "free" quality health care. No one should have to worry about paying for medications, doctor visits, operations and post-op treatments. I look at the health "insurance" industry as one huge waste of money and human talent. People are actually paid to sit in an office and find ways to deny insurance claims. Disgusting.
If it means we pay allocate more money out of our paychecks, fine. If it means that we are supporting people who have low or no income, that's fine too.
Future Americans will look back upon this time of American history and will classify us as 'pioneers' at best, little more advanced than frontiersmen.
Hopefully our more intelligent advanced progeny will look back at us and see the era of an entire nation duped, held hostage and almost destroyed by a system built on pure unadulterated greed.
From Engineer of Knowledge
Hello Microdot and everyone,
This one rings so true to me because I have been there. I was working for a company involved in the telecom industry. During one of the industries meltdowns I was laid off. Human Resources told me at the exit interview that I could keep my family covered while I no longer had a job with this Cobra insurance. Then they told me the monthly rates and my only thoughts were,,,, “And how does this help me!! If I pay these insurance rates my family will not have anything to live on for the rest of the month.”
I would like to see the U.S. adopt Nationalized Health Care like the French has shown the world that can work. Many would be better off here.
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