Just in case any of You believed that those Insurance Companies were planning on passing the 2 Trillion Dollars in cost savings that they had promised the President on to You ... forget about it:
Insurers offer Obama $2 trillion in healthcare cost savings
In a move with major implications for the economy, some of America’s largest private healthcare providers plan to tell President Obama they will reduce the spending growth rate of healthcare by 1.5 percentage points per year.
If hospitals and large insurance companies succeed in doing this, it would have major ramifications for both individuals and the nation. For Americans, the savings could be significant – as much as $2,500 a year for a family of four by the fifth year of the program. For the federal government, the savings could be as much as $2 trillion during the next decade.
Well my wife got home today after the company that she works for had its quarterly meeting. Guess what? Anthem has decided to raise the premiums by 26%.
Now, I honestly don't know what the companies accommodation of this -- namely by eliminating vision coverage, dropping matching 401k contributions and looking at workforce reductions -- and absorbing the 26% increase themselves ...
There are indeed a lot of stories on here about people who don't have coverage. But for those of us who do have coverage -- this isn't getting better. Our premiums have more than doubled in the last 5 or so years, and this is now an even more obscene increase.
There are a lot of very worthwhile diaries on the subject of Health Care Reform, and I know this isn't one of them.
But for any that don't think so -- The Public is Getting Very Personal
And if You don't think this debate effects You -- then You are surely going to find out exactly how much it does -- for us ... for today ... it is 26% ... that's how much!!!!!
UPDATE I decided to look at THEIR financials
Wellpoint (the parent company of Anthem) ended their quarter in March with 580.4 Million Dollars NET INCOME , a 75% INCREASE over the quarter ending in December, 2008 ... that's nice that their greed just knows no bounds isn't it?
PNHP is a decent Place to start