Are you a "have" or a "have not"?
This week at school all of us teachers were encouraged to attend a meeting about our health insurance. It was an unsettling meeting for me because it is astounding to see that the cost of insurance is so high. Some things just didn’t make sense. It appears that the best deal is if you are single. If you are married and without kids, you are going to pay more than if you were just two single people. That just doesn’t make sense to me, but it is what it is.
We have three different plans to choose from. The green plan is the plan you never want to use and if you choose it, it probably will mean you never go to the doctor….for anything plan! The blue plan is the plan if you are thinking, “Okay, I don’t want to pay anything out of my pocket right now…..Let’s just hope nothing comes up but the basics plan!” The white plan is for the people that are superstitious and think, “There shouldn’t be any major problem this year but I better be on the safe side because I don’t want to worry about it plan!” The other part of the meeting was about the possibility that one of three things could happen. We could have to pay 10%, 20%, or whatever is left after a state mandated cap is put on what schools pay for insurance, which could mean the possibility of a family having to pay a balance of over $6000.
Now it may sound like I’m laughing about this but it really is no laughing matter. The plans range in cost for around $4,000-$6,000 for a single, $10,000-$15,000 for married with no children, and 13,000 to a bit over $19,000 for the family plan. Now, just think about these numbers. How can a family that isn’t wealthy afford insurance that costs nearly $20,000 if it isn’t picked up by their employer? President Obama put forth a health care plan but these are real numbers and numbers don’t lie. Nothing has really changed except the cost continues to go up for health insurance. You might be thinking that our costs are unusual. However, our insurance is with Blue Cross Blue Shield and we don’t have the Messa Blue Cross that we had years ago. Blue Cross is a not for profit insurance company. Yes, I know you cannot imagine that such a thing exists. On paper it does. However, their CEO still gets paid much like the private sector. I looked up the rates for the federal employee plans, also through a Blue Cross Blue Shield company, and they are similar, which makes me see that the problems with the high cost of health care have not really been addressed through the health care bill that was passed. The cost of health care has to come down, all of our salaries have to go up, or we have to create a different plan like single payer which basically reduces the need for the middle man.
In my mind I believe it is foolish that our country hasn’t stepped up to single payer. If everyone had to pay something and we had Medicare for all, people would be better off. I know the politicians are doing everything they can to convince us that these programs have to be cut. Of course this has happened only after they renewed the tax cuts that Bush put in place and they continue to be resistant to the concept of taxing the wealthy at a higher rate. Of course many of them are the wealthy, so that’s not hard to figure. Right now our country is in a crisis mode of sorts. The Republicans are trying to condition all of us to the “need” to tame the debt ceiling beast. Of course they weren’t whining back in December when they renewed the tax cuts without so much as a whimper about spending. They also were in a completely different mood when President Bush was the man in charge. However, President Obama isn’t doing anything in the least to make matters better because he’s going for the cuts as well. Everyone seems to be on board with some kind of plan to change Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security as we know it. I heard Carl Bernstein the other day on Morning Joe saying we all know these programs have to change. They will wait until after the election and then get to work on it. He’s probably right but it’s all dishonest. When President Obama was running for the presidency he talked about being a “transformational” president. He thought Reagan was one and Clinton wasn’t. President Obama has always admired President Reagan so I’m beginning to think he may also become a “transformational” president. Life as we all know it may be “transformed” into something we have not known before. Our country is becoming the country known for the “haves” and the “have nots”. Let’s face it. You either have it or you don’t in this country. You either have a good job or you don’t. You either have health care or you don’t. You either have money or you don’t. You either have access to a good education or you don’t. You either have it or you don’t, but there really isn’t much in the middle any more. As I’m writing this I came across this opinion piece. It’s well worth reading. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/05/opinion/05kristof.html
At school we are heading into our last week. The students will be finished on Thursday and I’m sure they are all excited for their summer break time. Teachers are looking forward also but as I was walking out my door the other day I had a moment of sadness. I had a sixth grade student come in after school to help me work on getting things done for the end of the year. She told me my room looked sad because so many of the posters and things that made it exciting were taken down and it was so much cleaner. It didn’t have the excitement that it usually has for her. She was right of course as everything is being put away for the summer including art materials. My room is usually a hub of activity, sometimes it can get pretty overwhelming as we use clay, paint and other materials to create art. I find the summer break good mentally but as I was leaving that day I did feel that sense of sadness because I love working with middle school kids. I will miss that little girl who is such a little chatterbox full of energy and excitement that comes in to see me after school even though I had her in art class a semester ago! I will miss the funny boy who I always have to remind to listen because he never hears anything I say. I will miss the little miss perfect girl that is an awesome art student and cannot wait to get to school to work in art class. I will miss that boy that would never turn any work in, who I nudged and prodded all semester and got him to get that work in, who is now so proud that he has a good grade! Most of all I will miss all of the love I feel from these students that really do try to do their best, sometimes under difficult circumstances. Some of them are in foster homes, some are poor, some are wealthy but all are special to me. They really are our future and I don’t want to let them down. Our politicians need to see what I see and fund health care, education and the future of our children. We don’t need more years of war and devastation. We need a leader that gets behind the people of our country and lifts the spirits of those that are unemployed by finding a way to make conditions right for creating jobs, who tackles the problems of the high cost of health care and who is willing to keep the American dream alive by fully funding education!