How do higher premiums and co-pays help me?

Now I believe in coincidence, but I find it strange that my wife was notified in the week before Obamacare started up that her premiums more than  doubled on her Medicare Advantage plan, her co-pay went up 15 percent as did her out of pocket cap, prescriptions will now cost her more, and Tier 1 will now cost her a co-pay.

I hear the Democrats on TV bragging about how it will, and already has, driven premiums down. Well not at our house. I would really like to hear from some of you supporters of the plan to explain how we are better off.

Another scenario: My son works for a large corporation on what is called a part-time basis, although he regularly works four days or more as he is really on an on-call basis, and often works five or six days a week. Well, guess what? He has been told he will now be cut to only three days a week because the company does not want to have to give him health insurance. This looks like a loss of income of a minimum of $12,000 annually plus what he will have to pay for insurance if he buys it. Plus his taxes will go way down along with his income, so how are tax credits going to help him? Even if he got any they would not make up for his loss.

He probably won’t be able to afford insurance so will have to pay the penalty. Just how does Obamacare help him? Also people that are considered full-time as they retire are being replaced with part-timers. How would you be better off if you worked for UPS and found out your spouse had been dropped from your insurance?

For what it’s worth I heard on TV this morning that 300 large companies just quit furnishing insurance to employees and to my knowledge I have not heard one word that prevents insurance companies or health-care providers from charging what they want except so much of premiums have to be actually spent on health care. This does not control what hospitals or doctors charge.

I agree with Sen. Baucus. It will be a train wreck and I am afraid most of us poor suckers will be the ones that get hurt in it.

Hook is a resident of Kalispell