Name:   Talullahhound - Subject:   Yep that is a problem Date:   9/1/2015 11:52:22 AM

I have always thought that access to some sort of group coverage was the answer.  The only health insurance system I've ever had exposure to is the Federal Employees health Benfits program. This is how it works.  When you are working, you have the choice of over 30 health insurance programs - everything from HMOs to traditional programs like BCBS, with varying costs and coverage.  When you are working, the government provides a subsidy to it's employees, but employees still pay the majority of the cost (which is negotiated by the government).  Unlike what a lot of people think- it is NOT free, but participation is/was voluntary. the costs are not adjusted to your salary, so the lowest paid employees pay the same as the highest paid employees.  Then when you retire, assuming you had coverage while you were working, you can carry your health insurance into retirement, without any subsidy, but you still get the benefit of a negotiated cost.   This is the same program that Congress has too.  They also have to PAY.  As an individual, I pay about $200 a month for BCBS standard option which in general covers 80% of your hospital stay, tests, procedures, etc.  I pay a $20 copay for standard Drs. and $30 for specialists.  Assuming Medicare will be around when I turn 65, I will get medicare (no subsidy).  The reason I can get Medicare is that I have paid into Medicare.  I will likely keep my current BCBS as well, to cover what Medicare doesn't pay, rather than get another policy to cover what Medicare does not.  The FEHB does not offer a Medicare bridge policy, because the program is run for the benefit of it's employees, not the retirees.  In the case of my current BCBS, the carrier is BC/BS of Alabama, but that varies state to state. 

While I am not an expert on Obamacare, it seems to me that this is the system they were trying to model Obamacare on.  I understand why business owners don't like the idea of their requirement to pay towards their employees health insurance, but to me, it is just a cost of having employees, like paying into social security.  But, I don't think that they should have to bear the entire cost and I don't see why there couldn't be a small business cooperative that negotiates  an overall health care program to that would be offered to employees of small businesses.  Or a teachers cooperative that offers a program that is negotiated by the teachers union.