Wages Down, Healthcare Up

Hubby got a company wide email today from the CEO of his company. It is a national telecommunications company that in the last two years has undergone a company sell off, a strike by workers in several states, and a restructuring that leaves a ton to be desired. It should be said at the opening of this blog that I am very pro-worker and do not support many CEO's. I think that although it may be alot of responsibility to be in that position, I don't think it's a position that is worth several million dollars when the actual work is done at a much lower level.

My hubby's company has been self funded with their health benefits for many years. The reason for this was that they could actually make money on the health benefits. But as health care costs rise, those funds have slowly but surely dried up. As those funds dried up and withered away, the cost to the employee has steadily increased. Yet year after year, as contracts expire, wages are the thing that do not keep up. We, as a family of five, pay over $3000 a year for our health benefits. It may not sound like much to some people, but we can insure ourselves for about $3600. Why don't we? We can barely afford what we are paying now, much less increase that amount.

The email hubby got today stated that the company is losing too much money on their health care plans and must now figure something different out. Really, you think? How about hiringa company to manage those benefits. As a nation wide company with several thousand employees, thay can negotiate with almost any insurance company and get the coverage they want for the price that will fit most budgets. I know, because I used to do insurance billing. It's hard to spend years doing a job and not pick up on tips and secrets from insiders.

It's almost time for benefits to be selected for next year. That process usually starts in in October. The email stated that that would be put off until the company figures out a better way. It also said that the company was spending too much on the payment of benefits. That means that the employees that have that insurance are spending too much on doctor visits. So, basically, people are spending too much money on trying to get well and stay that way so that they can be productive employees. So far I haven't seen the down side. Apparently, the employees are having too many babies, have too many devastating illnesses, are fallig victim to too many accidents and illnesses that are beyond even the CEO's control. Who is he kidding?

Rising health care costs are the responsibility of all of us. Like it or not, that's the way it goes. And it's because of a people who think they don't have to pay their bill. I have a brother in law whose family uses the ER like their own personal MDs, but never pay the bills. They are too expensive and they can't afford them. No, it's because people like them don't pay their bills that they are so expensive. Two years ago, the boy had to have an emergency appendectomy. We had no insurance. We were able to get emergency Medicaid and they paid the bill. They didn't pay the $25,000 that we owed, but we didn't come off a dime. Which is another problem in itself. While costs rise, reimbursement stays low. It almost doesn't pay to be a doctor, unless you specialize in a field like plastic surgery.

The one thing the CEO did that was right, or wrong for him, was to allow comments to the email. The employees can all view those comments. Not many of them were favorable as you can imagine. One stated that although medical benefit cost had skyrocketed, the employee was now making less than they were three years ago because wages were not increasing. The contract my hubby's union signed this year was horrible, and only provided a 2% raise. 2%? Look at how much gas has gone up. The cost of milk is expected to go up another 35%. But his wages only went up 2%. How are we supposed to raise children on that kind of money?

Yes, here comes the argument that I could get a job. Although I am quite smart (not bragging, just fact), I never finished college. Without a degree my job prospects are limited in the good ole boy part of the country I live in. Also, there are not many jobs around that will pay a salary that will justify having three kids in day care again. Three kids in before and after care at school is not cheap. Can we justify my working 40 hours and still not having a paycheck? No. That's why I quit my last job. I worked 40 hours a week and after insurance, day care, taxes, and whatever else came out of my check I was lucky to bring home $100. It was not worth being away from my children for that.

Something is going to have to give here soon, and I really hope it isn't us. We have cut all the costs we can. We have refinanced our vehicles, got a new cell phone plan, switched satellite providers, scaled down our online service, and I don't even know what else. We don't leave unnecessary lights on and I don't remember the last time we ate out. My husband is working a butt load of overtime now, but that doesn't happen every week. So now, if our healthcare coverage goes up, what in the world are we going to do?

Life is not easy, and I don't expect to get a free ride. But do the higher ups at these large companies even think about the little man? No. They just know that their spouse/girlfriend/playtoy wants another house, so lets cut something to make profits go up, so I get a bonus. Did you know that John McCain has five houses? How often do you live in five houses? It's a little difficult if you ask me. But isn't it nice that he has the money.

We need to let the big companies know how we feel about how the worker is treated. Not everybody is in this situation, and bless you for that. But things are about to get really rough. Let's all hold on together.