The article looks at an unmarried couple who make a combined income of $50,000, and a married couple who make a combined income of $50,000.  The unmarried couple will pay only (yeah, only…ha ha) $3,076 a year under the House bill and $3,450 under the Senate bill.  If that couple decides to get married, they would have to pay $5,160 under the House bill and $5,100 under the Senate bill.  That’s a difference of between $2,084 and $1,650 respectively!  Just for deciding to get married.  The individuals that helped write the bill (democratic staff) acknowledged the existence of the penalty, but said that it couldn’t be fixed without creating other inequities.  To me, this seems like a pretty big penalty to be left in place, for fear that you would upset another group, or be unfair to others.  I mean, married couples are a pretty big group to upset!

The article has this quote from a Democratic Senate Finance Committee aide  - “The Finance Committee, along with other committees in the Senate, took pains to craft the most equitable overall structure possible, and that’s what we have here,”.  The MOST EQUITABLE bill.  So, they know it’s not fair for everyone, and one group that will pay will be married people!  This gives people an incentive to stay single.  Great!  Just what we need in this country!  A financial incentive to lose the institution of marriage.  As a country, we’re already doing things that would have been morally wrong just 20 years ago.  Gone on 2 dates with someone?  Ehh, that’s long enough to sleep together.  And we wonder why children in the 6th grade are experimenting with sex…could it be their role models?

I know that legal “mumbo jumbo” is the last thing any of us want to read or look into, but I think it’s important that we know what is and isn’t being approved with the new health care bill, especially since our politicians have a habit of sneaking in extra things when they pass a bill/law.  Be aware of your government!  Watch what they’re doing.  If you don’t, then when things don’t go your way, you have NO RIGHT to complain!

This website, called Healthcare Blue Book, is a free service that provides fair price information to people for services or products for patients that pay with cash. The amount is what many health care providers accept from insurance companies as “payment in full”.

People generally can’t figure out how much services cost anyway, since it’s not like doctors make a habit of publishing their price list (which in my opinion is the REAL crime. Incidentally, my doctor actually does do that…he’s pretty awesome!). And if they do publish it, it’s the “billed charges” amount, which is higher than the amount they accept from insurance companies. Read more about this here.

Basically, you go to this website, type in a product or a procedure that you need, along with your zip code, and it will tell you the reasonable price you should pay for that service in your area. Although this website is mainly for people who need to pay for their health care with cash, it is also a good way to be sure that your health care provider isn’t over-charging your insurance company. Now, you might want to sit there and say “who cares if the insurance company is paying too much”, but if they are paying too much, they will make up that money somewhere, and it will probably (eventually) come out of your pocket!

So, go to the website. Spend a few minutes taking it on a “test drive”. Bookmark the page. Hopefully, you won’t ever need it, but Jerrill and I believe in being prepared (those of you who read our posts often know this about us), and you should too!