Wal-Mart employee “can’t afford” $15/week for health insurance, but can afford cigarettes

wordpress ^ | November 12, 2012 | Dan from Squirrel Hill

[grundle]

Dan from Squirrel Hill's Blog

Wal-Mart employee says he “can’t afford” $15 a week for health insurance, but has no trouble paying for cigarettes

CBNC reports:

Wal-Mart Stores’ U.S. employees will pay between 8 percent and 36 percent more in premiums for its medical coverage in 2013, prompting some of the 1.4 million workers at the nation’s largest private employer to say they will forego coverage altogether.

“I really can’t even afford it now, so for it to go up even a dollar for me is a stretch,” said Colby Harris, who said he makes $8.90 per hour and takes home less than $20,000 per year working in the Walmart store’s produce department in Lancaster, Texas.

Harris, a 22-year-old smoker, was set to see his cost per paycheck rise to $29.60 from $25.40. He says he has decided not to sign up for coverage.

The same article also refers to Wal-Mart’s “two-week pay period.” So this guy is saying that he “can’t afford” to pay $15 per week for health insurance, and yet he somehow manages to pay for his cigarettes.

I wonder how much he spends on cigarettes each week. The article doesn’t say – but I’m guessing it’s more than $15.

[terycarl]

in a tobacco shop, they have little cigars, actually brown cigarettes, packaged like cigarettes, filters and all for about $1.50 per pack. I’ve tried them, just as good if not better than the cigarettes, just a little harder to find.

[I Drive Too Fast]

I quit smoking on October 2, 1980. I picked a date that I would NEVER forget. This was the date of Muhammad Ali's last fight where he lost badly to Larry Holmes.

Cigs cost me less than $3.00 a carton during the service overseas. They were around $5.00 a carton when I got out of the service. I quit for several reasons. My health beiong number one, the cost was number two. I thought it was a ripoff at $5.00 a carton, but now one pack can cost more than that.

[O6ret]

Obese people too...especially those who smoke.

[CSM]

Every individual should be able to decide how to spend their own money, it is the fruits of their labor! In addition, we should all be held individually responsible for those choices.....

Not only are HC costs up, but I did some additional digging and pulled out my old utility bills to track the rates from 1/2009 to now and am going to be tracking them going forward.

Elect is up 53%
Water is up 160%
Sewer is up 134%
Gasoline is up 112%
Nat gas is DOWN 0.57%

Better send out the attack dogs on those frackers:
http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/062612-616210-epa-proposes-new-shale-fracking-rules.htm?p=full

Reap the whirlwind slaves!

[CSM]

It is a rebellioius/freedom/indivdual liberty thing and it smells like freedom to me! Many a FReeper would prefer the state stamp it out and then will complain when church meetings in homes and homeschooling is attacked with the same tools.

Twinkies and sodas are on the hit list right now...thanks to fascists that have been aided by the FReepers that celebrated the foundation laid by the war on Tobaccoo.

Obamacare will be used to dictate all sorts of “unapproved” behaviour. Reap the whirlwind slaves!