This is change you can believe in

I good friend of mine just received the following inter-office memo. She is pissed, so she sent it to me…not that there is anything I can do. I have changed the names to protect me from a fucking lawsuit. Please feel free to comment, as I would like to hear what you have to say. Below the fold is a short read.

We the People are screwed. This is change you can believe in…

…the President’s Stimulus bill will cover the premium increase for the “employee only” portion of coverage for the first nine months of 2010 for almost all employees… This is NOT as it seems.

Anyone who believes that Obama and his administration have your best interests in mind…are crazy…you should sell what you’re smoking. Americans are gearing up to get screwed. Most of Americans won’t even hear the shot.

Yabufucius say…man who pays no attention…loses battle…Lose battle, lose game.

We have recently received notice of a proposed 41% increase in the cost of our health insurance premiums for 2010. Insurance Company, our insurance provider, attributes the increase, in part, to our high claims this year, and on balance, to an overall increase in health care costs. Because of the high risk associated with our above average claims this year no other insurance carriers even submitted bids for our contract. Thankfully, we did not experience a premium increase with last year’s renewal.

Insurance Company presented two alternatives to diminish this increase for our consideration. We chose not to consider the first alternative because it would have shifted the full cost of the increase to our employees. Our main goal is for the agency to take on the largest percentage of this increase in premiums and to avoid burdening employees with the full extent of the increase.

The plan we have adopted provides services similar to our existing one, but this alternative plan does require an increased deductible, and an overall premium increase of 25% (a substantial part of which will be covered by the agency). Other companies are experiencing 18-25% increases as well. We understand that news of this increase is not welcomed by any employee (or by the agency).

The Agency has always provided approximately 70% of the medical coverage cost for employee-only premiums and a substantial share of the spouse/child/family premiums. We will continue to provide that level of contribution in 2010. As an example, “the employee only” premium for 12 month employees will increase by $12/pay period beginning in January, 2010. The Agency will be contributing 73% of the cost of this premium.

A small temporary cost of living increase adjustment (COLA) under the President’s Stimulus bill will cover the premium increase for the “employee only” portion of coverage for the first nine months of 2010 for almost all employees. The COLA, which amounts to 1.84% of salary, will be paid in quarterly installments beginning on December 11, 2009. The last quarterly COLA payment will be made in September 17, 2010.

In order to fully explain the new plan, and to help each of you understand the associated costs, we believe it is best to meet with you face-to-face. Over the next two weeks, Human Resources and our Benefits Consultant, ScamU, will hold open enrollment meetings at the Central Office and at center locations. At these meetings HR will answer questions about the new plan, explain the growing cost of health care, discuss how to plan for your 2010 out-of-pocket costs, and explain how to best use the Flexible Spending Account to cover them.

We strongly encourage you to maintain coverage if you have it (or adopt the plan if you do not have coverage), while carefully considering all alternatives. We will continue to do everything possible in the coming year to seek the most comprehensive, yet affordable, health insurance options in the future.