While I’ve been a regular visitor here for some years, I rarely post or comment. After all, who other than me really cares what I think? That said, here’s what I think:
Like the headline says, I am a Ford Motor Company retiree. I worked there for 25 years in a variety of engineering assignments, from the 1992 Taurus up to the 2018 Mustang and just about everything between. I retired in 2017.
When I first hired in, all medical care was completely paid for by Ford. Within a couple of years that changed. First came a small medical insurance monthly premium. Ford said we needed to ‘have some skin in the game’ and that it was only fair that we contribute a portion of the costs. Shortly after came the deductibles, co-pays, annual max out-of-pocket costs, coinsurance, the out-of-network gotchas, etc, etc. By the time I retired, the total annual cost for me and my wife, including premiums and assuming one reaches the max out-of-pocket cost came to about $7,500. Being in our 60’s when people are more likely to need medical care, we spent that whole amount last year.
OK, that’s not a unique story. Millions of working Americans have lived through much the same thing over the past 30-40 years. And of course, millions of Americans weren’t and still aren’t covered by any medical insurance at all. So overall, I recognize that we’ve been a lot more fortunate than many.
Every November/December, Ford mails out the health insurance options for the upcoming year to its retirees. There are typically two plans to choose from, not substantially different from the prior year’s but always somewhat more expensive, of course.
Then came 2020. We were shocked to see that our best option for this year has a total annual cost of $20,000 if we hit the max out-of-pocket. That’s almost triple from last year! We are praying neither of us gets sick for the next two years until Medicare kicks in. I know that Ford’s official response would be something like “We offer competitive benefits, blah blah blah.” I also know from listening to 25 years of corporate Fordspeak that “competitive” means “average”. In other words, if, say, GM decides to screw its workers or retirees in some novel new way, that becomes the new “competitive”. The race to the bottom continues.
I have heard some of the Democratic presidential candidates say that most people like their employer provided health insurance and don’t want Medicare for All ‘forced’ on them. Well, I’m here to say that any company can make any change to their health care they want, whether their people like it or not. Exactly like what Ford Motor Company did to us this year.
Even after that, the counter person at the local pharmacy recently looked at our Blue Cross card and said “Oh, you have good insurance!” Sigh.
We need Medicare for All. Corporations like Ford Motor Company can’t be trusted to do right thing for their people on health care because they have other priorities. I’d happily pay some more taxes to cover it and know that I can just go to the doctor when I need to and not worry about the coming bills. More importantly, it would mean that EVERYONE could do the same. I won’t even get into the countless hours we have spent on the phone with Blue Cross trying to resolve billing screw-ups and such..
A side story about universal health care: A dozen years ago I was assigned to a six-month project in Oslo, Norway. One night, one of my American co-workers needed medical attention and we took him to the clinic. After they treated him, he asked how much he owed them. The staff looked a bit perplexed, and he was told that Norway has a national health insurance system and they don’t take payments from patients. He said “But I’m not Norwegian.” They said, “That doesn’t matter, we take care of everyone who comes here.” Taxes are pretty high there, but they take care of their people. Imagine that. Heh, if Norway would take me, I’d seriously consider emigrating.
BTW, I’ve driven Fords since my first new car — a 1983 Thunderbird. The lease on my F-150 is up in October. I think I’ll drive across town and see what Chevrolet has to offer when that time comes. Maybe check out that trick tailgate you see in those TV ads...