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For Many Americans, Health Cover is Key to a Job
SOUTHLAKE, Texas - Real estate agent Lisa DeWaal serves coffee at a Starbucks outlet for four hours every morning before she goes to the office to start her "day job."
Angelica Sosa-Bolte sorts through books that need to be shelved at Half Priced Books where she works in Dallas, Texas July 7, 2009. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi The reason has little to do with the state of the housing market and everything to do with the one big perk that 20 hours a week at the coffee counter provides: affordable health insurance for her and her three children.
While health experts say there are no statistics available, analysts say there are many Americans like DeWaal: people who have taken or stick to a job just for the health insurance.
It is a situation most Europeans, Canadians and others who enjoy national health services would find bewildering if not appalling and is one factor fueling the drive to reform the hugely expensive U.S. healthcare system.
"People will even stick with a job they feel boxed in on because of the healthcare benefits, especially if those benefits cannot be matched elsewhere," said Andrew Sum, a labor economics professor at Northeastern University.
U.S. company healthcare plans are usually subsidized by the employer. They are much more affordable and comprehensive than private plans that can exceed a $1,000 a month for a family, a huge burden for most households.
LOW WAGE BUT HEALTH COVER
As a result, company plans can make even a low-wage job an attractive option.
Starbucks says its most economical plan, available to part- or full-time staff, costs the employee about $25 a month.
Such plans, of course, also have an impact on companies' bottom lines and are part of the rising price tag of U.S. healthcare.
Half Price Books, a privately held retail chain based in Dallas with 2,500 employees nationwide, says over the past few years the costs of providing the same coverage to its workers has risen about 9 percent per year.
Its employees pay nothing for its base plan just to insure themselves and they pay $183 a month to cover a family.
President Barack Obama and the Democratic-led Congress are working on a fundamental restructuring of the healthcare system this year, aiming to sharply reduce the total of 46 million Americans who now have no health insurance.
DeWaal, a realtor for Prudential Texas Properties in the affluent town of Southlake near Dallas, has avoided the ranks of the uninsured -- but she has to sweat for it.
"I probably work 60 hours a week because I'm a full-time realtor ... I get up at around 4 a.m. every week day," said DeWaal, 44, a South African immigrant and widow, who begins her Starbucks shift at 5 o'clock each morning.
DeWaal said her plan, which includes her children, cost her $46 a week or close to $180 a month.
"Health insurance is exactly the reason why I have taken the extra job. It's company health insurance, which is a lot better than a private plan. I would put these extra hours into real estate if I had affordable health insurance," she said.
June data from the U.S. Department of Labor showed about 7.1 million Americans were "multiple job holders," well down from 7.7 million in June 2008 as the job market shrank with the economy.
FAREWELL RETIREMENT
The need for affordable health insurance has forced some Americans out of retirement, especially if they left the work force before they reached an age where government programs like Medicare are available.
Patti Sutton, 58, used to work with the City of Phoenix and came out of retirement to whip up espressos at Starbucks for the same reason as DeWaal -- the health insurance.
Her husband Scott, who was laid off by the construction company he worked for, is awaiting a heart transplant.
"When he got sick, the costs skyrocketed," she said.
Patti went for two years without insurance and they used savings to cover health costs.
Scott Duncan, 43, said health benefits were one of the reasons he is sticking to his job at Half Price Books in Dallas, which sells second-hand books and magazines.
"I've worked here off and on for 10 years and the benefits made me inclined to stay," he said.
Duncan said his real estate agent wife was the main bread winner in the family but his job provided the health benefits for her and his three children.
"We could get private health insurance but it would take most of our paycheck," he said.
(Additional reporting by Tim Gaynor in Phoenix, Editing by David Storey)
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This is the whole reason for the seeming paradox of big employers not supporting single payer! The group health insurance for the employees is a lot of trouble and expense, but boy-oh-boy, does it keep the workers whacked down. If the are just one firing away from disaster, the DO tend to stay submissive.
If workers could quit at any time and still have access to health care, imagine how uppity they would become. they might even stary asking for raises - or organizing unions. Can't have that!
So in balance, the employer's labor costs are lower even with having to provide an insurance benefit. And, as individual plans or self-insurance become impossibly expensibve, the employer plans can be made increasingly stingy with the same worker-cowing effect.
If college students are serious about getting "family wage/benefit jobs" commensurate with their academic achievements, they are the demographic that should be screaming the loudest for single-payer.
Millions of us boomers are spending an extra 5, 10 or 15 years working in our "family wage/benefit jobs" solely for the medical insurance, thereby delaying/depriving young college graduates of those jobs.
A single-payer system would allow us to retire tomorrow and open up millions of "family wage/benefit jobs" to young college graduates.
Obamacare appears to be a shuffling of the chairs on the deck of the Titanic type exercise that will result in higher costs for less health care, thereby delaying retirement for more boomers and further reducing job opportunities for young college graduates.
Few college students- of traditional age- are concerned about health care, however.
I decided to switch careers late in life and left a job where I had no chance to advance, no challenges- and, frankly, I didn't believe in the politics of the industry I was in. In order to complete an advanced degree, however, I had to quit working altogether. This meant giving up health benefits. In the meantime, I've not been able to find a full-time position in my field- and as a part-timer, I don't have benefits. Last year, I paid the price. I got sick and needed major surgery. So now, in the middle years of life, I'm saddled with not only student loans but medical debt. I guess that's what I get for wanting to answer a calling and changing to a career that would be more challenging and self-fulfilling. Shame on me! The American who has health benefits should hever dare to tempt fate like that, intentionally giving up benefits in order to follow a dream. I guess I should have stayed in a job where I was bored and miserable, just in case I should ever get sick.
NMLib: I feel your pain! Exactly my story. And this is supposed to be a great democracy! Thank you for helping me feel like I'm not the only idealistic human who believed the lie that one could make anything of themself they set their mind to. I pursued my dream, got sick, stressed, exhausted, burned out....for having to work, go to school, pay attention to my family, and worry about benefits!.....and now I quit! You say: "The American who has benefits should never attempt to tempt fate like that!" Right!!! That's how I feel too....like fate is not on the side of the average citizen.....only the rich.
Health care has become the new golden handcuffs that keeps most Americans in their dead-end jobs. Like one huge penal colony.
The joke is that when these suckers sticking it out in shit jobs actually need the benefits they've been promised, the surprise will be on them when they see all the stuff that's not covered and how much they will have to shell out themselves.
Not to mention the fact that Starbucks has already told the world it spends more on employee health care than it spends on purchasing coffee beans. It is therefore unlikely that Starbucks will continue providing medical insurance to employees at current rates and benefit levels.
Americans will have to send their children to Europe, Canada or other nations that enjoy national health. Who will pay the NATIONAL DEBT then, eh?
As far as I know, fewer countries will take in foreigners and allow them on their national health care plans. I think countries in the north, especially the ones with nationalized health care, are being swamped by refugees from the poor south and are groaning under the weight.
I'd love to hear of which such countries are still open to emigration.
not many - but Thailand does have mostly government healthcare (minimal fees, no need for a doctor's permission to visit pharmacy.)
I've bought my plane ticket. In November I'm leaving New Orleans and the USA. It is just too expensive here.
FTA - "President Barack Obama and the Democratic-led Congress are working on a fundamental restructuring of the healthcare system this year, aiming to sharply reduce the total of 46 million Americans who now have no health insurance."
This is a non-sequitur. It says nothing about how the Dumbocrats' plan for a "public option" would actually affect this problem.
This article tells us what we already know. However, NPR had done an interesting and potentially useful thing, they have turned the camera on the health care lobbyists for the people to see.
Take a look at this. If you can identify any more lobbyists, please let NPR know:
http://www.npr.org/news/specials/2009/hearing-pano/
SMASH THE STATE...... BEFORE THE STATE SMASHES YOU. It's just that simple
I have employer health insurance and when I do go to the doctor, I am worried that the medical history that accumulates will affect me if for some reason I lose my job some day and need to get private insurance someday.
An individual's medical history is crucial for ongoing health maintenance, and yet the USA'a private insurance system turns one's medical history into a weapon to be used against him/her. I'd say the system should be destroyed and replaced with single payer. Generally, private enterprise has to be kept in a vise grip and crow-barred to make it work. Free enterprise is "in its last throes, if you will".
Progressive101 - you should be very worried because this happened to me! Two years ago my COBRA coverage disappeared (because they failed to notify me that I needed to opt in for the change in coverage, and I missed the open enrollment window). Then, I had a single incident with my eye which the eye specialist said was due to normal aging process ("welcome to the world of aging" - his exact words). So, when I tried to buy individual coverage on the open market, I was denied ANY INSURANCE because of the eye incident by one carrier which meant that I was BLACK-LISTED by all other insurance companies! My only option was coverage through HIPAA which is extremely expensive ($700-800 monthly premiums). I finally begged my ex-husband's employer to please re-instate my COBRA (as advised by a US Labor Dept representative) and they did the compassionate & right thing and gave it back to me. BUT I HAVE NOT BEEN TO SEE A DOCTOR SINCE THEN FOR FEAR IT WILL COUNT AGAINST ME WHEN I HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE MARKET PLACE TO TRY TO BUY MEDICAL INSURANCE ONCE MY COBRA IS GONE. When I told my sister the internist why I stopped getting my annual physical ("any medical findings could count against me") - she agreed (per her experience as a physician in private practice) that anything new on my medical record would be used against me (i.e. either denied any coverage or jack up my premiums for any "pre-existing condition" - apparently "normal aging" is a pre-existing condition...hahahahaha!). Look, I am a very healthy 60-year old woman, but I may not be able to get health insurance because of the racketeering monopoly medical insurance industry. And even if & when I do get a policy it will be a false sense of security because most likely it will only provide partial coverage. Last month I visited an insurance broker to see about getting coverage before COBRA runs out. She & I called three different carriers (Blue Cross, HealthNet, Blue Shield) - 2 told me that they would not cover me until I had "EYE SURGERY" for my normal aging eye. These were not physicians, these were low-paid telemarketers telling me this! The third one said that they wouldn't just flatly refuse to cover me for my diagnosis of "vitreous separation" but they wanted permission to thoroughly review my private medical records (so they could find a reason to deny me or to charge me high premiums). I refused to sign up with them. Too scary, could count against me.
SINGLE-PAYER IS THE ONLY SANE & COMPASSIONATE SYSTEM!!! But, DO NOT wait for this because our elected representatives & Mr. Obama will be selling us all down the river when they acquiesce to the folks who really run our government: big corporations. Mark my words: any healthcare reform coming from Congress will include a mandate that everyone buy a policy from private industry and any so-called "public option" will also be worthless. Any way you slice it they will get money from us: private, public, or fines for not participating in this system.
So what do we do? Here are our options:
1) give in & do what they say
2) protest! March in the streets, make a scene, join others in discussion, educate yourself about how to stay healthy as possible
3) think "outside the box". I am starting to research the idea of buying a sane insurance policy outside the US monopoly system. If we can visit Canada to buy cheaper drugs why can't we buy an insurance policy through a Canadian insurance company? (Assuming they aren't corrupt like the US companies). Why not? Doesn't NAFTA allow a level playing field? Remember the scene in SICKO where Michael Moore's Canadian relatives went to Sears to buy insurance before their trip to visit the US? Why can't we do the same thing?
I have found myself wanting to leave this country too as I am so tired of being stuck in a high stress low paying social work job. But like the poster above ... at first this was a calling. Now it's a burden.
Born and raised in Canada till 21 years of age and now having lived in America for 28 years I can tell exactly the single largest benefit from living in a country with civilized health care.
In Canada , for 21 years, my parents,uncles,ants, cousins , friends never complained about a medical bill or the care they received. Not once.
NO STRESS OR WORRY ABOUT GETTING CARE IF YOU GET SICK. WHATS THAT WORTH, YOU DON'T KNOW, I DO, YOU CANT PUT A PRICE ON IT.YOUR LIFE IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.IF YOUR A PARENT , IT IS A HUGE BURDEN LIFTED FROM YOU.
There were no bills , and Canadian Doctors are as good as they come.
NO DENIAL OF SERVICES, NO BILLS, NO PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS, NO MEDICAL BANKRUPTCY.
What does stress due to us, it is a killer.STRESS CAUSES ALL KINDS OF ILLNESS.A SLOW SURE DEATH FOR AMERICANS WITHOUT HEALTH INSURANCE.The cost of medical insurance for a family of 5 is over 300 dollars a Month. And you have to pay the first 20 percent out of pocket.
Then you have to fight with insurance company for what they wont pay.
THE MOST POWERFUL AND RICHEST NATION ON EARTH EVER, AND WE HAVE MORE DEATHS CAUSED BY STRESS DUE TO LOW WAGES AND HIGH COST OF MEDICAL CARE THAN ANY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD.
A COUNTRY WHOSE BIGGEST PRIORITY IS CORPORATE TAX BREAK WELFARE, AND FEEDING THE MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX TO THE TUNE OF 1 TRILLION DOLLARS A YEAR.
AMERICA, LAND OF THE SICK AND HOME OF MEDICALLY BANKRUPT.
BornFreemen
Living the American dream , 1 gang stalking warrant less surveillance torture filled day at a time.
Guess what slaves?! They don't give a rat's ass about your health, or how many hours you have to work, or your families. Everything has been reduced to a mere cost vs. profit calculation: making the highest profit at the lowest cost. You are a commodity to be bought cheaply and used up like any other commodity they need to make profits, and when you're worn out, there's millions of others just like you.
Human dignity or respect, or your well-being, has nothing to do with it.
The elites think oppression is good for the people.
Thanks Obama, you are everything we feared, and more.
the way we treat the planet is the way we treat our health...
We should combine healthcare reform (like that's gonna happen) with planetcare reform (like that's gonna happen)...
Planetcare...that's an interesting word...what would it look like?
Healthcare, planetcare, anybodycare?
When you live in the RIGHT WING FASCIST POLICE STATE CALLED AMERIKKKA who expect the citizens to live in THIRD WORLD CONDITIONS. while the rest of us living in the progressive democracy's called Europe we live comfortably!!!!! Americans vote the right wing scum out of your goverment!!!!!!!!!