Don't confuse union heads with the rank and file membership. When the union heads say one thing and the members see another then they start thinking for themselves. Don't underestimate the impact Obamacare will have on this coming election.
Oh believe me I don't. It will be fun watching Mr. Obama pummel any opposition over healthcare reform. Not to mention tying the GOP into knots over their vote to end Medicare. Oh, and those union members? After the hysteria of WI and republicans trying to destroy unions, I don't think Mr. Obama will have any problem with the union vote.
Republican candidates that excite the base, scare the shait out of the rest of America. If any prospective candidate that says anything remotely centrist, the other Roger Ailse employees will cut them to shreds. The debates are going to be hilarious, who can promote the most tax cuts? who can say America is the most exceptional? who will raise the most alarm about the end of the free markets? how can they blame Obama for the 2008 meltdown? who can demonize Obamacare and get the most PAC money from health insurance companies? who can invoke Ronald Regan in the same sentence with denouncing deficit spending? (The Daily Show drools) Really, in my almost 50 years of observation I don't think any party or candidate has ever gone off the deep end quite like the 2010 GOP. The only historical equivalent I can think of is George Wallace in 1968.
Public sector unions will vote for Obama no doubt. Unions representing workers for private and publicly traded companies is quite another thing all together. The workers will get to see their healthcare premiums go up two more times before the election since most companies start their benefits sign-ups in October. The amount premiums went up for the company I work for represented by the USW made everyone REALLY mad and everyone knows why the premiums went up. I listened to several years of Bush bashing and even participated in some. The Obama bashing is MUCH worse than anything I ever heard about Bush. I have also talked with people from other union companies as I live a strong union area and have heard very similar reports.
Really? What is that reason that everyone knows? Because premiums went up less last year than they had been averaging over the last decade. And even that is pretty much irrelevant because most of the reforms haven't even taken place - and rates increases are tied to previous year medical expenditures rather than some unknown future expectations 3 years down the line.
premiums have been going up for years... as for Obama bashing being worse than for Bush, I'm guessing, are you in Texas?
Our premiums went up more last year than any single year ever, WAY MORE. While it is true that premiums do generally go up every year anyone with half a brain knows why they went up as much as they did and it wasn't because of the past. You can be an Obama cheerleader all you want but there are a lot of people in this country who are starting to realize Obama does not represent people who work for a living. The two staunchest Democrats I know, both strong union people, voted for the Republican congressional candidate last year and say they will do the same in 2012. There have been more people drop out of the USW at our facility than any time ever. People are starting to use there heads instead of listening to the union propaganda.
Well if we look at the national averages of premiums the fact that they went up for you and your two staunch Republican voting Democrats shows that to be an anomaly. By and large people's premiums are going up less. I'm sorry if you and your Democrat friends are having the opposite effect on your premiums that most working Americans are having regarding their premiums.
That's nice and all, but irrelevant. Your personal premium is anecdotal and has no relevence to overall premiums. It's disappointing to hear that you don't have half a brain then. Blah blah blah. The simple fact is that medical care inflation in 2010 was about as low as it's been in 25+ years: http://www.newyorkfed.org/research/directors_charts/ireg_40.pdf The reality is that when the country entered a recession, companies cut costs by making employees pay more of a share for their health care - it had nothing at all to do with insurance premiums or Obama care: The fact that you know 2 Democrats that changed their mind is irrelevant - provide some actual facts that support your viewpoint that medical costs are rising due to Obama instead of a bunch of nonsensical "everyone knows it!".
MY insurance premiums ..... Two guys I know voted..... At OUR facility... Again, you realize that you are ONE person, and that your experiences, no matter how emblematic of a larger belief you hold, do not indicate a trend of society. You get to vote ONCE. To quote someone's recent comment in the hangout whom I can't recall at this moment, this is the political equivalent of the sun revolves around the earth.
The healthcare companies are blaming the rate increases on HCR. Of course you can't trust them, since they are in the business of screwing you out of money. Honestly, the more I deal with medical issues, the more I wish we had the single-payer system. Insurance pays when you when you are healthy, and tries its best to screw you over when you are sick.
No they aren't. At least not in Texas. The highest increase I've seen where the insurance company attributed it to HCR was 4.5%. They break these things down for you. Also not true unless you are using cut-rate, low budget insurance. If you go with the big boys, BCBS, Aetna, Humana, United Healthcare, etc. then your claims get paid. Just like with computer problems, the number 1 reason members experience problems with their insurance is USER ERROR. What do you mean this doctor is out of network and therefore not covered under my copay? HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW? Insurance company screwed me!!!!!!!
4.5% is attributing a huge increase to HCR, and I recall the numbers being that more than half of the increase on average being attributed to HCR by the insurance companies. I have BCBS. I had Aetna. BCBS refused to pay a visit because they considered a cancer screening recommended by a doctor to be non-preventable treatment. Aetna disallowed my claim on a visit to the doctor for pink eye, because they considered my trip to be for a pre-existing condition. I go to the doctor on average less than once a year, and every time I have ever gone, I've had to go thru crap with my insurance company, because they initially denied my claim.
i was going to say, i know juicystream is a pretty smart guy who wouldn't go somewhere out his network.
