Tax Rebates: Maybe Health Insurance Should Pay Attention!

So hubby and I are excited about this tax rebate thing… looks like we fit in that middle class group that will get $1200 back from the federal government.

We reflected on the rebate for a few moments, and the thoughts by legislators and the president alike — why they voted “yes.” I share their thoughts with you:

• The economy is a mess. We need to make people spend more money to improve it.
• If we GIVE them money, they will have more to spend.
• We want voters to re-elect us in November , and if we give them money, they will like us and vote for us.

So here’s little old me, wondering the following:

• Mr. President and Ms/Mr Legislator — excuse me — but wasn’t that my money to begin with? I sent you a WHOLE lot more than that last year, and I’ll be sending you a WHOLE lot more this year. I don’t believe you are “giving” me anything!
• And one other question — where did all this extra money come from that you have to give back to me? All I hear about is the escalating costs of the war in Iraq and the hole that has put in the federal budget. So who exactly are you taking money away from so you can give it back to me?

Those thought processes would be enough to share in today’s post….but…. why stop now?

I got to thinking that health insurers should begin to take a page from the federal government’s book… don’t you think? We pay and pay and pay…. and we know they have extra money left over. They wouldn’t even have to go into the hole to refund us some of the money we have paid ….

Unfortunately — I believe the following is a better reflection of their thought processes — and business plans:

• Wow – we suckered those patients and their families into giving us so much extra money in premiums this year! Now we have plenty left over….
• Yeah, yeah — I know — we should probably either lower premiums next year, or give some back to them, but….
• Instead, because we were able to deny so much coverage to some of them, and because we have a bonus system in place for those of us at the top who make six and seven figures who successfully corral our costs — we’ll just share it with — ourselves!

You know — you’ve never seen me side with universal healthcare or private healthcare. I’m not ready to do so because I don’t know all the facts about what either of those terms means. I’m working on it.

But I certainly do get heartburn when I begin thinking about the escalating costs of private health insurance, why those costs have escalated, the rewards in place for that escalation, and the fact that 45+million Americans can’t afford it at all.

Hmmm… I wonder if I can get my heartburn covered by MY insurance?

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