Innocence? Or Stupidity?
Mon., July 6, 03:40 PM
Let me first give a nod to the New Haven Register, which has come a lo-o-o-ong way since it first began a website. About fifteen years ago, it lacked so much that I complained, and the webmaster agreed, saying, “That’s why this is my last day.”
At that time they didn’t even print the obituaries, which is a very important feature for people who no longer live here. By comparison, I still read the obituaries from my home town paper, a complicated subject that probably needs a post of its own. In the past year, however, the Register has even begun to print its letters to the editor. And here is one of mine:
It looks as if CONgress is living up to its name, the opposite of PROgress, when it comes to health insurance. The solutions are basically simple.
Stop tying health insurance to employment. Not only does that hamper small businesses, but it gives all employers loopholes to avoid granting the benefit to their workers, often the ones who need it most.
The funds employers that would pay for health insurance should be pooled to make it available for anyone who needs it. It can be done; just stop listening to the lobbyists.
Stop paying health benefits for the members of Congress. Most of them haven’t a clue as to the difficulties of providing health care on a limited income.
In my experience the last 15 to 20 years, most insurance companies are more interested in selling additional insurance policies than in making the system work for clients.
Anyone who has been reading my posts for a couple of years has heard all this before. I did tone down a little once I became eligible for Medicare, but don’t forget, we still pay for Medicare B. But it annoys me that people who have a job to do are not doing it. On the other hand, it becomes evident that we have to keep repeating the same thing over and over until some people get it.
On the same page as my letter was one from a man who doesn’t understand why people without health insurance don’t just buy it and claim it as a tax credit. Is that innocence or just plain stupidity? Individual health care is expensive, especially for those whose pre-existing conditions make them ineligible for the low-cost policies.
May I repeat, I paid more than $12,000 a year when my entire take-home pay was not that much. I paid for it with savings and took a tax credit, of course. On the other hand, one must pay the taxes on withdrawals from an IRA, not to mention the lost interest. When I commented on his letter, I called it innocence. Being nasty does not prove a point. But you can’t help but wonder where this person got his financial education.
