And so it begins

You catch that?

"If somebody has insurance they like, they should be able to keep that insurance... They should just pay less for the care that they receive."

That was from March 6, 2009.

The Obamacare bill was introduced in congress in late 2009.

In February 2010, Blue Cross Blue Shield raised the rates for our company's insurance plan by 24%.

So much for "you should just pay less for the care you receive."

Why an increase in rates of 24%?

Last week we got an email from BCBS listing all of the things that they now have to cover, without cost sharing, per the new dictates from the Department of Health and Human Services. Companies will also be required to report the value of all healthcare benefits provided to employees. To quote the email... "This is for reporting purposes only to accommodate various studies and begin preparation for the "Cadillac tax" in 2018."

In other words, here is all the stuff we are forcing your insurance company to cover, but if they charge to much we will slap an extra tax on them.

Today my boss sent out an email that Consumer Reports is about to publish a report attacking Blue Cross Blue Shield for holding too much money in reserve (6 months operating cost.) BCBCAZ issued a pre-emptive response, ending with this comment:

"Particularly during these times of economic uncertainty and major health policy changes, plans must be sufficiently capitalized in order to maintain service levels in this untested new environment."

In other words, the gov't just passed a 2000 page bill, no one is quite sure what is in it, but all indications are that vast regulatory powers have been granted to agencies that oversee health insurance companies. We fully expect to be subject to much more regulation on what we cover (see above) and how much we can charge (see above.) Given that we have no clue how much this healthcare monstrosity is going to increase our costs, we feel it is prudent to begin increasing your rates now and socking away cash so that we can survive as a business.

I don't fault BCBS for this at all. Seems like a perfectly reasonable business response to me.

However, based on the email from my boss, it sounds very likely that we will be shopping for new insurance, and likely switching. Keep in mind, I've worked there for 11 years, and we've had BCBS insurance for the majority of that time, if not the entire time. I'd say that many years with the same insurance indicates that we liked our insurance plan.

And we will likely be getting rid of it, because they increased costs due to Obamacare.

So much for "if you have insurance you like you should be able to keep it."

"Everyone will have the security and stability that's missing today."

Yup! 24% increase in costs and changing up our entire insurance company sure sounds like the security and stability I've been missing!!!

$*!%$*(%!(@)!@#)!$%#$%">#!@)!@#)!$%#$%/a#!#!!!!! ...... Jerk...