Tuesday - October 19, 2010

An ObamaCare Owie

In what could be a game changer for the deadlocked Washington Senate race, Boeing notified 90,000 employees, concentrated in huge plants in Washington, thattheir health premiums would increase next year as the company braces for the impact of President Obama’s national health care law.

Citing the need to shift plans to avoid new taxes in the plan, the company will increase annual deductibles for employees’ family plans by $300 to $900.

The letters to tens of thousands of Boeing employees in Washington will powerfully reinforce the message from Sen. Patty Murray’s Republican challenger, Dino Rossi, that the president’s health care law is bad for the state’s top employer.

At their debate Thursday, Murray defended the law and said that it would help the state, rebutting Rossi’s claim that the legislation had passed without being read by saying “Not only did I read it, I helped write it.”

Aerospace giant Boeing is joining the list of companies that say the new health care law could have a potential downside for their workers.

In a letter mailed to employees late last week, the company cited the overhaul as part of the reason it is asking some 90,000 nonunion workers to pay significantly more for their health plan next year.

This seems like conflicting stories here. Which is it: lowered benefits (ie higher deductible) or raised premiums? YES. It’s both. Why? Because Boeing has a very good insurance plan for it’s workers. So good, in fact, that it falls into the government’s “Cadillac” category. So to avoid having to pay a FORTY PERCENT TAX on this “excessive” package, they have to stick it to the workers and cut the benefits by some degree. This creates a new group policy, and that means a large rate increase. The talking heads on TV were saying it could be upwards of $1000 per worker. Gee, thanks Odumbo.

Spokeswoman Karen Forte said the Boeing plan is more generous than what its closest competitors offer, and the company was concerned it would get hit with a new tax under the law.

The tax on so-called “Cadillac” health plans doesn’t take effect until 2018, but employers are already beginning to assess their exposure because it is hefty: at 40 percent of the value above $10,200 for individual coverage and $27,500 for a family plan.

Deductibles, the share of medical costs that employees pay annually before their plan kicks in, will go up to $300 for individuals, an increase of $100. For families, the new deductible will be $900, an increase of $300.

In addition, Boeing is instituting a copayment of 10 percent after the deductible has been met. The copayment will rise to 20 percent in 2012.

Those changes will reduce the value of the Boeing plan, but it’s unclear whether that will allow the company to escape the tax looming in 2018.

So much for having a good job with good benefits. ALL ROUND PEGS WILL BE HAMMERED DOWN UNTIL THEY FIT THE SQUARE HOLES. Did you notice that the new “Cadillac” tax is higher than the top income tax bracket? Just saying. Because the guy who screws the wheels onto 747s is rich you know. And the rich have to be taxed until they’re just as poor as the rest of us.

More and more I am seeing the talking heads on Fox News come right out and say that the only real goal of ObamaCare is a one payer system: health insurance run by the government. It is their intent, and they wrote this massive law specifically, to put the thousands and thousands of private insurance companies out of business. Gee, no kidding. That’s what we said 2 years ago, and nobody listened.

Posted by Drew458     on 10/19/2010 at 01:36 PM   
Filed Under: • Health-Medicine • Obama, The One •  
• Comments (1) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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