A few weeks ago, several individuals in the office where I work were all over the health care reform initiative as Socialist. They whined and complained ad nauseum about Obama, redistribution of wealth from their pocket to those not fortunate enough to have insurance, and on and on and on.

But then the light went on. And it wasn’t pretty.

My employer distributed the new insurance benefits packages for next year, and you would have thought

these same people, the ones who were screaming Socialism, were having their fingernails pulled out.

Seems as if it never occurred to them that health care costs were going to catch up in a bad way to their paychecks. They never bothered to consider the possibility that their health care options would get narrower and their monthly co-pay would get drastically higher. Nor did they bother to consider the fact that their deductibles would radically increase, their prescription co-pays would radically increase, or that a hefty surcharge would be levied for use of non-generic prescription drugs.

And they haven’t had to deal yet with the unspoken and hidden likelihood that the number of procedures that will be paid for by insurance will be substantially reduced.

Needless to say, the discussion that followed this wake-up call quickly gravitated toward the use of the ER by the uninsured as being the culprit for increased health care costs and, thus, increased insurance costs. It also gravitated toward a discussion as to why Medicare and Medicaid weren’t more readily available to the uninsured, and how "someone" needs to do something about all of this.

Which, of course, led me to reminisce about the Obama Socialism discussion in this same office a few weeks ago.

Seems like it’s only Socialism if the insurance pain isn’t being directly inflicted on your own backside. Seems like Obama is  the health care reform bogeyman only when you can afford to insure all your dependents.

Since most companies announce their new benefits packages this time of year, I suspect that this same light bulb is shining brightly in many offices across the country just about now.

Which might lead you to ask if I am reveling in all this anguish, and the short answer is: "No". Instead, I am shaking my head at how short-sighted all of these people were. At how it never occurred to them what the alternative to health care reform really was.

The term "lambs to the slaughter" keeps coming to mind.

And one other thing I heard: There was a good deal of discussion about not opting for any coverage and just taking their chances. See my recent Thought Experiment on this topic if you want some insight on my thoughts in that regard.

And by the way, that ain’t pretty, either.

© 2009, Mac Williams. All rights reserved.

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