A former Los Angeles Times employee, that is using the Tribune medical for himself and his wife, contacted me this afternoon regarding a sharp increase in medical premiums that went into effect today.
The former employee mentioned he had been paying $1,300 every three months for medical insurance, but today his premiums were increased by $400, bringing his total payment for three months coverage to $1,700.
For retirees on a fixed income this means they will have to adjust their spending habits or even forgo enjoying peace of mind with health insurance down the road.
It seems to me that more and more retirees are finding jobs or holding onto jobs so that they keep their benefits or can pay for them.
ReplyDeleteTruth is, that our politicians on either side will never ever fix this issue. Why? Because they have FULL coverage as senators and congressmen. They want something fixed --they get it done pronto. In other words, they have no idea of how the system works from either the patient's, healthcare givers, or hospital's perspective. So my recommendation would be to immediately take away all healthcare benefits from our elected officials, make them pay for really spare HMO or very high PPO premiums out of their salary as we do, and MAYBE something will change.