Very expensive pumpkin - Santa Clarita, CA

Very expensive pumpkin

There’s been a lot of press coverage and commentary lately about the absurdly disastrous Keystone Cops rollout of Obamacare.

Its proponents keep trying to assure us that it’s all a “glitch” — a $ 630,000,000 “glitch”! — and once it’s operational we’ll all love it.

And never forget: According to Obama, “If you like your health care plan, you’ll be able to keep it.”

Well … are you ready for sticker shock?

Over the last two years — since the passage of Obamacare and its phasing in — my Medicare Advantage plan premium has increased from $ 0/month to $ 28/month (this year) to $ 85/month next year, in addition to my $ 105/month for basic Medicare (which has gone up from about $ 80/month).

That’s a 230 percent increase in two short years.

Meanwhile, my Social Security COLA increase for next year will be about $ 30/month, so I’m going backward about $ 70/month.

My max out-of-pocket has gone from $ 3,500/year to $ 6,700/year, my office visit charge has gone from $ 20 to $ 30, my co-pay has gone from 20 percent to 30 percent, and many previously covered services have been severely limited or terminated.

Fortunately, I do now have pregnancy and pre-natal care. Of course, since I’m a guy in my mid-60s, this isn’t very useful.

So Obama’s right. I did get to keep my health insurance. Unfortunately, like Cinderella’s carriage, it turned into a pumpkin.

A very expensive pumpkin, at that.

One other thing. Often when I discuss this issue, there’s some Dem/socialist who cleverly points out that I’m a hypocrite for criticizing government interference in health care when I’m a recipient of government “benefits” myself.

I’d like to point out that I am, indeed, a recipient of those benefits. But not by any choice of my own.

I was forced, at the figurative point of a government gun, to participate in these programs and had “contributions” withheld from my paycheck for almost half a century.

I’m simply getting back what I already bought and paid for.

But I have a standing offer to the government: reimburse me for all my involuntary “contributions” into Social Security and Medicare, including monetary inflation and all the interest I would have earned had I been able to keep and invest that money myself, and I’ll sign a waiver releasing any and all claims to any such benefits.

I figure that check should be well north of a million bucks. Easily.

View Original Article Source:
Very expensive pumpkin
Columnists

Very expensive pumpkin

Santa Clarita News – Columnists by The Signal

Santa Clarita News – by The Signal

Santa Clarita News and Events by LivingInSantaClarita.com

Thank you for visiting “Living in Santa Clarita!” LivingInSantaClarita.com was a created out of a need to help aggregate and bring together local Santa Clarita Websites. This site uses public RSS Feeds to deliver Santa Clarita News and Santa Clarita Events. Please read our content disclaimer here. 

The post your are currently viewing is filed under:

“The Signal“ And “Santa Clarita News“

 

Follow Living in Santa Clarita at:

Google+: Google Plus LivingInSantaClarita.com at http://livinginsantaclarita.com/Google+

FaceBook: FaceBook LivingInSantaClarita.com at http://livinginsantaclarita.com/Facebook-home

Twitter: Twitter LivingInSantaClarita.com at http://livinginsantaclarita.com/twitter-santa-clarita

LvingInSantaClarita.com - http://livinginsantaclarita.com

Santa Clarita News by “The Signal”

Very expensive pumpkin - Santa Clarita, CA
http://livinginsantaclarita.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/a9ef8_Santa_Clarita_living-in-santa-clarita-the-signal-breaking-news-300x274.png
Learn more at LivingInSantaClarita.com
Living In Santa Clarita - Stay Current Santa Clarita!
http://livinginsantaclarita.com/santa-clarita/santa-clarita-news/very-expensive-pumpkin-santa-clarita-ca/