Open Pinball

hub at work, he forwarded some news about…. sigh …. Open Enrollment (for Benefits/HC) starts Nov 3rd. Yeah well, guess what?

For employees in Open Access, the rate increase is 300%!,  No, that’s not a typo.  If you are in Consumer plus or basic, the only way to avoid an increase is to go into the “Single Hospital Plan” in which there is NO out of network coverage and you can only go to Memorial System Hospitals.  MD Anderson has been priced out of reach of most employees, with a 35-45% coinsurance required.  (One Board Member held forth that there is nothing exceptional about MD Anderson) On top of that, all prescriptions will cost more.  Your deductible is increasing, and so is the maximum out of pocket.

Then theres the whole SS fiasco ongoing. I read some more on that this morning (playing catch up as usual).

Citizens can win this fight if they mobilize smartly. We can do this by arousing public alarm right now, while members of Congress face a treacherous election and before Obama can work out his deal. Some liberal groups are discussing a “take the pledge” campaign that demands senators and representatives sign commitments to keep Hands Off Social Security Benefits. If politicians refuse to sign, put them on the target list for November. Barack Obama is standing on the third rail of politics-let’s give him a warning jolt. {June 7 post in The Nation}

yah right.

I keep reacting in my head) to all this stuff Im reading with “movie quotes” from that book which isnt even a movie yet. lol.

“May the odds be … always in your favor.” (said by one of the Capitol rep’s to the teenagers she’s about to send off to the Arena).

I went ahead and re-read Book #1 over the weekend. Its still good. 🙂