Victim!

Are we victims of capitalism ... Or victims of Obama-Care?

My company's annual health care elections came and went and for the first two weeks we stewed!  We were pissed-off ... mad as hell ... ready to take up arms and fight the evil Human Resources Zombies! Our share of the HMO that I have clung to for years was going up 33%.  A huge increase by any measure.  Do we choose health care ... or food?  Health care or electricity?  Health care or ... (gasp) CABLE?!

We asked, "Are those capitalist pigs just driving up costs to make more profits?  Is it because they are greedy and can get away with stealing our hard earned money?

Or should our gratitude be towards the Obama/Reid/Pelosi trio ("pass it, you can read it later!"); as well as all the socialists that think they are playing Robin Hood!  "Steal from the rich and give to the poor."  Or in modern terms ... "steal from the hard working earners and give to the government dependents".  Isn't "stealing" still wrong??

Phew ... got that off my chest ... I feel better, but I'm not done.

The wife and I sat down and reviewed our options.  No matter how we looked at it our health costs were either going to go up ... or we would have to assume more risk.  For a family of five (5) living on one (1) income ... we didn't really want to assume more risk.  The kids are all very active in cheer, baseball and football.  They risk knee, ankle, wrist injuries ... and of course, concussions on a daily basis.  One emergency room visit can end up costing a month's salary.

We ended up choosing a high deductible PPO, we are putting as much money as we can afford into a health savings account, we are praying that the kids avoid injury ... and we are also at peace with our decision.

In retrospect, the HMO that we were on for years was not in our best interest.  If we had switched to a PPO years ago we would be miles ahead in our health care now.  We were over-spending and paying for other people's health care (actually supporting socialism!). 

We were afraid of change, we were comfortable and rather than investigate our options we spent two weeks complaining to others and being pissed off.  The lesson here is: don't complain, investigate and adapt ... if it doesn't mess with your morals and it won't kill you, then find a way to persevere.  If it messes with your morals .. fight like hell.  But at least do your research first .. then decide whether or not to be pissed-off.