Your Greatest Fear: Losing Your Job or Your Health Benefits?

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With a few months left before the Presidential election, pollsters for both candidates are busy gathering data to find what voters are most concerned about. Both candidates have a lot to say about healthcare, with Obamacare due to take full effect in 2014. According to an article in Economy Watch, As Politicians Focus on Health Care Act, Americans Worry About Health Benefits and Costs,” by Allison Linn, Americans are worried more about how much health care reform is going to take out of their weekly paychecks than the effect on the overall economy. It’s a personal thing. What’s the difference between the opposing national health care programs if, in the end, an individual can’t afford the premiums for either one?

 

According to the article, a recent Gallop survey revealed that 40 percent of those polled feared losing their benefits, while 28 percent feared losing their job. With only slight improvement in the job market, the cost of health care is even more troubling. The author asked readers to complete a survey of what they felt was their greatest healthcare issue with the following results:

 

  • The cost of health insurance and health care – 71.2 percent. Many companies transfer the rising cost of health care to employees by raising premiums. Some have eliminated health care benefits altogether. Either way, the burden for rising health care costs fall on individuals who have to deal with uncertain employment and a shrinking paycheck. Individuals either have to pay-as-you-go without benefits or watch their paycheck shrink through increased benefit premium payroll deductions. For those out of work, COBRA continuation coverage premiums can be staggering!
      
  • The future of Medicare – 17.8 percent. The Pew Research Center reported that as of January 2011, the first baby boomers reached age 65. And from that date, every day for the next 19 years, 10,000 baby boomers will reach age 65. With baby boomers making up 26 percent of the total workforce, it’s no wonder Medicare is high on the list. With so many individuals transitioning to Medicare, will there be enough funding to take care of an aging population with greater health care needs.
     
  • The Affordable Care Act – 8.8 percent. The survey comments voiced concern over how the Affordable Care Act is going to affect both quality and cost of health care. Some commented that they are already feeling the effect of rising costs and fewer benefits. Some found they didn’t qualify for benefits because of restrictions due to income levels. The lid on the Affordable Care Act box is only slightly ajar, with the big reveal due in 2014. The uncertainty of the ACA’s provisions and costs is cause for concern.

 

The certainty is that health care will change dramatically regardless of who occupies the White House. While each candidate promises his program is the best for the American people, health care is not “one size fits all.” It’s a huge challenge with a lot at stake. For two political hopefuls, it’s the opportunity to lead the country. To the individual voter, it may mean the fate of future health and well-being.

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  • maureen a
    maureen a
    I am 60, unemployed with no insurance. I have been looking for a job for almost a year. I can not afford health insurance, I am too young to retire. What am I to do? I can not get any help from the government because we make too much money. My husband is on disability  because he has leukemia and has two artificial knees and a right knee , we have raised our grandchildren. There is no help for grandparents raising grandchildren either. We can hardly make our rent let alone the groceries.  We are many who are worse off. You are right, where do we get help?
  • Martin O
    Martin O
    Having immigrated from Europe after the war, I grew up in a hardworking, disciplined, household. When we became citizens, my father handed me an American flag -- it had 49 stars. He said, "Martin, you are now an American. If she calls you to war, you will go." My dad was a Sergeant Major in the Wehrmacht and spent almost 6 years in a Siberian POW camp after fighting in Stalingrad. I can assure you candidly of on two things I know in life:1)  My mom was hiding Jews in the attic as he was in the POW camp, so prejudice is a learned trait. I was not born with any.2)  They came to America to bring a better life to the children, and so that their only son would not have to see the ugliness of war. My draft number during the Vietnam War was 17.1)   Only politicians start wars and young men die.2)  Cobra costs are impossible without a job. That makes everyone a candidate for crime. Educated white criminals are like wounded animals.Dear Congress:  Fix our country before its too late.
  • Martin O
    Martin O
    After being sober through AA for 23 years, I have brought many of those in need to places such as DSHS, never believing that one day I would need to go there for myself. To my surprise, the same system that threw me under the bus 30 years ago, is now feeding, clothing, providing transportation for, every Ukrainian woman and their Children. We came to America from a broken Europe. There are few options left, and I did grow up in the streets of Chicago yet educated EE/CS at the 4th best engineering school in the US. Thanks to my parents strong will, I wrote most of your financial software, telecommunications, and yes health care: ICD9.I ask that you take on a very motivated worker as a step to saving America.
  • Judith V
    Judith V
    Many voters don't understand all the details of the different healthcare plan. The only thing I know for sure is that employers would rather outsource their work than handle employees and pay their medical benefits.
  • Joyce M
    Joyce M
    Since I am out of work now, I am concerned about both getting a job and getting health care coverage that is affordable. I have preexisting conditions and the medications are what is killing me.
  • Mary Nestor-Harper
    Mary Nestor-Harper
    Hi Judy,I had a friend who has a business but took a job just so he could get the healthcare he needed for his daughter's health condition.  I agree.  Healthcare is often a deciding factor for taking a job and putting forth the effort to keep it.  I'm afraid with the changes coming, healthcare will just get more expensive.  Thanks for your comment.Mary
  • judy t
    judy t
    I can work for 10 a hour if I have health care. It is the cost of health care that I have problems with. Affordable health care is important to all working people .

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