Finally, proof Obama's a ChiCom!

Here's the smoking gun in my very hands, smuggled out of Red China! Obama's a Manchurian Candidate! Send this to Orly Taitz and Donald Trump asap!

My health insurance

Read it and weep, literally!

Seriously, my intention in sharing this is not to elicit your sympathy for me or my friend, but to demonstrate that many Americans who have health insurance through their employer aren't happy with it, and/or have a hard time affording it.

"Best health system in the world," my ass! The status quo sucks.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From:

Date: Wed, Oct 7, 2009 at 5:19 PM
Subject: RE: my health ins.
To: J

I sent you the ______ plan for this year, right? What kills me is that people say they are fighting to keep the status quo because they want to keep their choice. We don't get a choice—our insurance provider changes practically every year and I have to have a doctor who is in network, so all that bull about not getting the doctor you like with socialized medicine is no different than what we already have. Even if I choose the office I want to go to based on the reputation of a doctor in the practice, and they happen to be in network, I usually have to see whoever's available the day I can get in. I still haven't seen the doctor I wanted when I chose my PCP a few years ago, so I might as well have gone somewhere else more convenient (they're all the way out past ______). So now I've been trying to find a different PCP (the one ____ liked is not in network for Humana) but most aren't taking new patients. So what freaking choice are these people fighting for again?

From: J
Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 2:54 AM
To:
Subject: my health ins.

I got the details for our company insurance plan from CIGNA for 2010. It's worse than I thought. I will have to pay $894 per month for the family plan. Fortunately, there is no coinsurance or deductible. But still, that is __% of my net pay.

It is a "Platinum" policy and my only choice, take it or leave it. I have no choice, I have to get it, even though having a baby here will be about $6,000 out of pocket (but reimbursable by insurance), and health insurance for the year will cost $10,728, and I am not likely to pay the difference (ca. $4,700) on other family health expenses here. So I will be paying for insurance, in the truest sense of that term, against the need for emergency or acute care in W. Europe or USA for my family.

Since my company contributes up to $3,333 per year for health insurance, I know that the plan's total cost is $14,061. That sounds like a heck of a lot -- and it is -- but per the article by health care economist Uwe Reinhardt, the average cost of health care (including employer's contribution and all other health spending) for a family of four in 2009 is $16,700. So I am actually below the curve, as unbelievable as that sounds.

By buying this insurance, I will also be paying for the "right" to keep my health insurance in the USA via COBRA if I am fired or quit my job, so that I have decent health insurance for my family, although COBRA on this particular plan would cost about $1,200 per month. (COBRA typically costs 102% of your plan's total cost.)

I should admit that I personally have health insurance locally, too, as a benefit of my local (overseas) employment. I chose the plan for our company. It costs about $700 per person per year, including dental and emergency care, all at private clinics. Realistically, I will use it only for dental checkups and cleanings.

My 777th post

My blog has been in "beta" long enough.

After 3 years and 776 posts -- each and every one of them SPECTACULAR -- I am taking off my mask and revealing my blog to all you opinionated, opinion-hungry Internet news junkies. Voila!

It's mostly stuff you've seen by e-mail already. Nevertheless, don't miss out on some of my oldies but goodies, including a few overwrought and lengthy essays on topics that nobody else cares about:

Gun control won't stop school shootings?, March 2009

Is Obama the Anti-Christ?, November 2008

Derivatives and the financial crisis, November 2008

Ohio man shoots teens defacing McCain yard sign, October 2008

Re: Michelle Obama's America -- and Mine, February 2008

Gens X-Y-Z are in trouble, November 2007

Letter to Uncle T. on 'liberal' v. 'progressive', August 2007

Actual Photo of Dick Cheney's Heart Surgery, July 2007

Raise your hand if you believe in science, May 2007

The Confederate Flag: Celebrating Treason, March 2007

Utah Rampage Shooter: Muslim, or All-American?, February 2007

The Unexamined Benefits of High School Sports, January 2007

America's Armchair Generals, December 2006

The Real Thanksgiving Story, December 2006

By far, Iraq has been the most frequent tag on my blog postings, (251 posts and counting), and was one of the reasons I started a blog. Some examples:

RE: An Open Letter on Iraq, October 2007

Reply to Uncle T.: Bush 'duped' by CIA on Iraq aftermath?, July 2007

Are We Winning or Losing in Iraq?, April 2007

Early Reactions to Sunday's Anti-War Rally, January 2007

Bush "moved" by visit to wounded Vets, December 2006

Mostly my blog consists of my comments building on news stories or others' opinions. Some of the opinionators featured most often on my blog are: Matt Taibbi, Pat Buchanan, David Sirota, Mark Ames, Allen Uthman, Gary Brecher, Paul Krugman, Joseph Stiglitz, Ezra Klein, and yes, (sigh) Rush Limbaugh. These are people you should get in the habit of reading regularly, if only to discover what evil liberals and radical kooks are thinking.

Occassionally, I also post e-mail exchanges with real, flesh-and-blood conservatives, because I like to stay close to the people in flyover country, ya know? I'm no limousine liberal, mind you. (Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon for my fancy burger?)

Anyhow, I encourage you to take a look, get angry, disgusted, whatever, leave a comment if you care to, bookmark it, and come back real soon. Share the URL only with your closest politcorrect confidants and college-educated, Saab-driving, bi-coastal friends and relatives. I admit there aren't many photos or whizz-bang effects on my blog, but that just shows it aint about bein' pretty, it's about bein' right. (That is, to the left.)