Posted on 09/18/2013 5:29:59 AM PDT by 11th_VA
Walgreens, the nation’s largest drugstore chain, reportedly will no longer offer health insurance coverage to about 180,000 employees at its approximately 8,000 US stores. Going forward, workers will need to buy coverage on so-called healthcare exchanges with an employer-provided subsidy.
The company apparently attributed the major change to its benefits package to healthcare cost increases as well as Obamacare, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Healthcare exchanges or marketplaces are supposed to be up in running as of October 1 under Obamacare, a.k.a. the Affordable Care Act. During an August 2009 town hall meeting, President Obama promised that “If you like your healthcare plan, you can keep your healthcare plan.”
Under the new Walgreens policy, “the firm will pay a fixed amount for employees to select coverage options in a private insurance exchange run by Aon Hewitt, a consulting unit of Aon PLC.
The exchange will offer up to 25 different plans in some states.” According to a Walgreens exec, “I think the only way to drive down costs in the health care space is to have the consumer buying the health care be knowledgeable and educated and understand what they are buying.”
To date, however, many state healthcare exchanges, however, don’t yet exist or are behind schedule in ramping up, prompting one US Senator to describe the situation as a huge train wreck.
(Excerpt) Read more at inquisitr.com ...
5th generation producer of products— real products that people need. You could not be more wrong.
I despise the tyranny of intellectual asses and elitists of every stripe- as well as govt tyranny. Am reminded that venting keyboard commandos who don’t know sh#t, who ignore history, respond emotionally and make massive assumptions and give useless advice and direction, also waste time and hence money. Time’s up.
It is the Establishment that got us here, the Kennedys, LBJs Nixons, Bushes and Clintons, and obamaumaos— the Progressives and their defenders and the useless turd lackeys in the financial world with their host of fellow travelers. A very long way from Adam Smith. Deo Vindice.
this is what the crony socialist/capitalists wanted all along.
health insurance to be a fixed cost which the corporations can dwindle down to zero.
This will become like all government subsidies, it will be the real price PLUS subsidy which the consumer will pay. (see digital tv converter boxes. all prices increased by the cost of the subsidy)
Just as a side note Nexium is no more effective than over-the counter omeprazole which Walgreens sells as a house brand #42 for $17-$19.
Go Gators. People cannot read for comprehension (not directed at you— having engaged in discussion with the unschooled).
This started with Kaiser. around the wage controls of the Liberty shipyards under WWII contracts.. which has now blossomed under this govt./union largesse into the nightmare HMO/foundation “provider” of Kaiser Permanente system— the largest save Harvard Health. Entire agencies and systems emerged over the years to come to this idiotic point of obamaumaocare.
Scales of economics apply to the trough suckers just as much as to manufacturers. And the trough eaters are eating well these days off of our money.... the “other people’s money” Thatcher spoke so eloquently about and which money we have run out of (borrowed time) Deo Vindice.
Everyone always wants two desserts, so...two “s”es for desserts.
But you’d only want to be lost in the desert once, so only one “s.”
Sister Mary Arnold taught me that when I was about 5.
Hope it helps.
Best,
Best solution.....Hospital systems directly contracting with patients for levels of service. You pay them a certain amount a year for access to their facilities, and based on price, you can have different levels of service.
No middleman, with the extra overhead, that goes along with it.
The only “insurance” should be catastrophic insurance, that pays only for extraordinary costs. The sole purpose is to preserve wealth in cases of catastrophic medical bills, but not paying for every bruise or broken limb.
Well I ate Tums like candy for years, they were cheap and worked. Finally was sent to a gastroenterologist? and he put me on omneprazole for $9 a mnth.
I just hope that stupid witch at Walgreen’s lost her insurance. haaaaarrrrrr
I think eventually, people will refuse to work for less money in the same jobs and demand more money or move on to a better payer. That may take years and people will literally die in the mean time. I worked for $25 an hour 12 years ago while my brother in law was making $38 and hour with less skills and education. He paid his own bennies. The reason I was happy was the killer benefits I got made it worthwhile. I had a bigger house, a better car, and went on more vacations than he did for most of our careers. Now, I may have my bennies removed after counting on them for decades. Kinda leaves me in a lurch in retirement. If a corporation chooses to pay the fine and drop coverage, they will find their better employees suddenly looking for more money in a different place. The marketplace will eventually level the field, but their will be pain in the short term.
I wouldn't have a problem losing my health care from work if they paid me the difference to shop for my own. You and I know that's not coming. I have very little doubt I will end up broke and under a bridge after working and saving for 40 years. This is the difference between living middle class and living in the projects for most people. If you worked and saved in order to get a million dollar IRA for retirement and now find out you needed a couple of thousand more per month income to keep you out of a cardboard box, it becomes more than an intellectual discussion on a blog about paying your own way. After working for 30 years towards something and then to find out the government says, "No you can't!" is kinda worrisome.
Yeah, I have to take 40 mg/day. Just make sure you’re taking calcium citrate to avoid bone problems over the years.
Shena,
So sorry to hear about your illness, GREAT job speaking up! I work in
the retail industry lots of young kids ALL think they are going to be getting
FREE healthcare!! When I explain to them that they are going to be forced
to BUY healthcare I get the deer in the headlights look!! Such stupid
people it just makes me SICK, the problem is these youngsters have no
idea what it is like to live with true freedom!! I hope you are in remission
very soon stay strong!!!
I am in remission and so far every test is clean. Thanks for the well wishes. I was already mad when I went in because my insurance had shot up $50 a month thanks to Obamacare so that gal REALLY got me at a bad time. lol
In the latter part of 2013, five years after a one-term Senator with no discernible past was elevated to the presidency, you're still proposing a "best solution"?
LOL. When are FR conservative porn addicts going to wake up and figure out the game? Perhaps never - volume is way down, while other sites that present a more complete picture are on the ascendancy.
It has always been about money. Whether private or public sector, banking balance sheets must continually expand. With the private sector (purposely) emasculated & outsourced, it leaves only government to take up the slack to avoid deflation. (Deflation kills both government & banks - since they "own" the country, this can't be allowed to occur.)
It doesn't matter what area is involved: health, energy, food, transport, security, etc. The debt MUST expand. Health care is the perfect vehicle in which to increase costs and force either individuals, or local/state/Fed governments to incur additional debt to finance this respective service.
I find it fascinating that at this late stage in the game, parlor room debates still take place regarding the philosophical nature of the political economy.
I suggest you fellas 'move on' and deal with the here & now. That is, how do you make a buck off these extremely major non-secular trends?
And Crony Corporatism's intention in the first place.
“1) Employers would have to provide FOOD as everyone needs food more than Health Care.
2) Employers would have to provide a car or transportation to work as you can’t work if you can’t get there”
Many companies used to do EXACTLY that.
They were called “Company Towns”. And folks that couldn’t manage their money soon ended up “Owing their soul to the Company Store”-Tennessee Ernie Ford
A return to the “Script System” would soon the Radical Socialist Democrat goal of total life control, eh?
Many years ago companies started offering benefits packages to compete with other companies for employees.. Now, since jobs are scarce THEY DON'T HAVE TO COMPETE FOR EMPLOYEES SINCE THERE ARE FAR MORE JOB APPLICANTS THAN THERE ARE JOBS AVAILABLE. THIS HAS BEEN CAREFULLY ORCHESTRATED BY OBAMA AND HIS HIJACKING OF THE MEDIA ENABLES HIM TO DODGE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS.
I usually try to gloss over typos and such, but with this proposal, I think we get really 'get out the vote'...
I know some very nice people (my pharmacy) who work there. I despise Obama and his “Care.”
Health insurance should have been decoupled from employment decades ago, and should have been funded like life insurance.
Buy a 30 or 40 year policy at age 25.
Damn right.
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