"Ed Huntress" wrote:

"A worker who owned and controlled his own plan would not be at the mercy of
business managers and union leaders who agree to cut health benefits as part
of a corporate rescue. And a worker who was unfortunate enough to be laid
off wouldn't have to worry about his family losing their health coverage
along with his job."

Uh...any idea how this witchcraft is supposed to work? If the guy's laid
off, and he's paying for his own health care, how is he going to *pay* for
his health care?

Well for that matter, if you are permanent reduction in force, how do you pay for
continued health coverage under COBRA? Oh, you save money against a rainy day. Cobra
wasn't an option for me when my employer of 20+ years folded so I fell on the insurer of
last resort in my state that had to take me because I had a paper that said group
insurance wasn't available under Cobra (former employer was in bankruptcy and self
insured).

Currently we have a system consisting of Cobra and the fallback I paid into for 8 months
while I was out of work. Failing to maintain continuous group coverage scares the chit
out of me. That preexisting condition bravo sierra can kill you.

When you are working, don't spend everything you earn. I don't care what you make, I bet
I can find someone getting by on less because they have to. You may have to provide for
yourself and family.

Wes