Yesterday, Krista Ogburn Francis penned a post titled “HR Bloggers Silence on Health Care Reform“. It’s an excellent read and I suggest you check it out.
Please keep in mind that just because there’s a vote on health care reform today, it doesn’t mean the discussion is over. For me, today’s vote is historic because it means the conversation will continue.
I’ve written before about health care. Do your homework. Have an opinion. Get involved. This legislation impacts us all.
Here’s my two cents on the pending health care legislation. Is the bill perfect? No. Is it a start? Yes.
Being a consultant, I pay for 100% of my insurance premiums as well as everything the insurance company doesn’t pay for. Would I like to see a reduction in insurance costs? You betcha. People should not have to go broke in order to seek basic medical attention. This has been one of the foundations of the reform bill.
I know it’s the weekend. And March Madness is in full-swing. Some might say health care debates are boring. But boring or not, this is important. Keep one eye or ear on the health care happenings. It will definitely impact our future and the future of work.
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Catherine DiGennaro says
As someone who has been both an HR professional(W2 & 1099) and a Small business owner , I understand the healthcare debate from “both sides”. My hope is that the parties involved have educated themselves about all options available and really listen to their folks from home for their ideas and opinions. Hopefully HR folks reading your blog have already communicated to staff about costs, sharing, containment, FSAs, etc. so that people are in fact informed about the true costs of benefits and what they can do to keep costs down themselves. It is an interesting time in our nation and certainly not over today.
hr bartender says
Your points are excellent Catherine. It’s all about education. Thanks for commenting!
John Jorgensen says
Madam Bartender (oops, watched too much CSPAN last night, stuck in a loop), I mean Sharlyn,
Like you, I pay for the entire premium of my health care insurance. Would I like it to be smaller, you bet. But I am not sure if I heard or read anything in this legislation that adresses that. I could be wrong I have not read the entire act, but if our representatives didn’t, why should I.
I wish this legislation had addressed more of the cost containment issues such as tort reform and the necessicity of doctors ordering duplicate tests in order to cover their butts in case of a frivolous law suit.
That being said, I am glad that the issues such as pre-existing conditions being covered in all health plans, not just HMOs were addressed. Like you said, it is a start and hopefully Congress will continue to work on the issue.
hr bartender says
I watched alot of C-Span yesterday too! You’re right, there’s still alot of work to be done when it comes to health care reform. Hopefully yesterday was the just the start. Thanks for commenting John.
Jay D'Aprile says
Hi Sharlyn,
What I think people who do not work in the insurance industry seem to miss is that this bill is about access (good) and not about cost control (bad). Unfortunately, what this reform fails to address is the ever rising cost of delivering care. You care read about this in further detail at my blog by clicking this link: http://www.talenttracks.com/2010/02/we-have-met-the-enemy-and-he-is-us/
The bottom line is that as the cost of care goes up, so does your premium. Until we address this issue we are not going to see premium relief.
hr bartender says
I agree Jay the legislation is far from perfect. We can only hope this is the start of more conversation about cost control.