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As a retired benefits manager for a fortune 25 company in the US, I have a lot of experience designing and delivering health care programs for thousands of employees. The program being proposed by congress is not insurance, it is not reform and it will not work. When you offer the same thing to everyone at the same cost, it is called an entitlement program. Our major entitlement programs in the U.S. (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid/Medical) are all broke. Why would we possibly want to implement another failure. And don't get fooled by the Obama statement that you will be able to keep what you have. Even good companies are going to bail on offering health insurance. And trust me, all major employers have smart lawyers who have made sure they have included language in the documentation you have received that allows them to terminate coverage. Providing excellent health/dental insurance used to be a competitve advantage in hiring the best and the brightest. But most companies are struggling with costs and any benefit that is no longer a hiring advantage will be dropped. So even if you like what you have, when it is no longer available and especially is you have had any illness, your only option will be the public plan. The public plan will be rationing and forget about getting any new innovative breast cancer treatments covered.
One final very important point---any government plan that is designed for the US taxpaying citizens must be the one that every federal employee is on including the president, the congress and all federal workers. If it is good enough for me, than it certainly is good enough for them----remember, I am paying for their coverage. It is outrageous that they have included language in the bills to exclude themselves and keep the rich plan they currently have.
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