>>>>>>>It still costs the individual an arm and a leg for COBRA, more than most unemployed people can afford to pay. The real issue IMO is reining in costs. Did you know we now spend 1/6 of our GNP on health? That is ridiculous, and out of sight compared to other countries. I completely agree with President Obama (I bet you don't ;-) ) that health care costs are the greatest threat to our long term economic well being, even bigger than Social Security.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>I know why you agree with Obama - you are unemployed and you want the government (that means gainfully employed productive taxpayers like me) to give you a hand out. If you hadn't thrown away your last chance to be productively employed, you might feel a little differently about having to shell out your hard-earned money to help take care of dead beats.
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>>>>>>I will not respond in kind. Something is making you very angry and I don't think it's all Barack Obama.
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>>>>>>The only thing I want to point out is that I was not making any kind of personal appeal at all and am not looking for any handouts. I pay for health insurance (Humana) for my daughters and me every month, and have for a year and a half. It's decent coverage and considerably cheaper than COBRA.
>>>>>
>>>>>Where do you get the money from?
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>>>>Savings.
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>>>Will you switch to government-sponsored plan when opportunity comes?
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>>PMJI, I'm not sure how anyone can answer that question when the final plan(s) is not know yet and it is assumed some employers may scale back or stop providing health insurance if/when a government plan becomes available. No one knows yet what will be included: co-pays, deductibles, coverages, etc. Too many unknowns at this point. Lots of drafts out there and lots of talk, but nothing concrete.
>
>Too many unknowns? Do people like free lunches? It answers the question squarely.

No it doesn't. People don't always choose a free option over one that incurs a cost. For example, at one of my previous employments, there were multiple choices for healthcare. One option was free to the employee (no mthly cost out of paycheck) but included an annual deductible. Other options included paying a monthly portion of the premium, but no annual deductible. Nothing is really 'free' and the government plan likely won't be free either. There will either be an employee monthly cost, an annual deductible to meet, or lower coverage in some cases (or maybe all). It still remains to be seen.