There are two problems with this cartoon:
- Uncle Sam is actually receiving treatment
- The title should read Lean Forward America
Posted on 10/05/2010 8:46:17 AM PDT by Qbert
3M Co., citing new federal health laws, said Monday it won't cover retirees with its corporate health-insurance plan starting in 2013.
Instead, the company will direct retirees to Medicare-backed insurance programs, and will provide reimbursement for that coverage. It'll also reimburse retirees who are too young for Medicare; the company didn't provide further details.
The company made the changes known in a memo to employees Friday; news of the move was reported in The Wall Street Journal and confirmed Monday by 3M spokeswoman Jackie Berry.
In its memo, the company said the new health-reform act would create new opportunities for people in their 50s and 60s to find affordable insurance.
Maplewood-based 3M (NYSE: MMM) is one of the first large companies to indicate that it won't tap a large federal-government reimbursement program created by Congress as part of the health insurance reform package, The Wall Street Journal reported. The rebate program was meant to encourage employers to keep in place their health-insurance plans for retirees.
3M said the new policy will begin in 2013 for retirees who are 65 and older and qualify for Medicare. Non-Medicare eligible retirees and their dependents will join the program in 2015.
3M noted that these changes affect current and future retirees of 3M, regardless of their retirement date.
The new policy is likely to save 3M money because it reduces the risk to the manufacturer for rising medical costs, according to a University of Minnesota professor interviewed Monday by Minnesota Public Radio.
It is Bush’s fault....
“Watch for Kathleen Sebelius to threaten to put the upper management of 3M in prison for this”.
...I’m glad you didn’t tag that with a ~sarc. I believe it’s a legitimate possibility. At least haul them before a committee and rake them over the coals, use as an example of what can happen if HP/GE/TI tries this.
Of course ObamaCare was the reason. The new ‘mandates’ the gov’t is requiring for private health insurance include ‘free’ screening for most cancers. This includes ‘free’ colonoscopies, beginning at 50. Many more ‘seniors’(ie retirees) will take advantage of the screenings, which will drive up health care in the short term, while possibily saving money on expensive cancer treatment in the long run.
3M is just responding the way any BUSINESS would, maximizing profits. The law of unintended consequences strikes again. I wonder how many ‘hope and change’ 3M retirees will feel ‘short changed’ by Obama when they get the letter from their former employer?
There are two problems with this cartoon:
Thanks Barry....
” What a revoltin development “
“This could put retirees in a bit of a jam considering that Doctors are dropping their medicare practices left and right.”
On another thread I mentioned the Marxist Hegelian Dialectic. Basically, the government acts to make something worse, then steps in with another action to “fix” the first action and move the situation along, in small steps, to the desired outcome.
They frequently act like spectators when they watch the trainwreck they instigated.
So yes, it will create a bit of a jam. Don’t worry, Congress to the rescue!
AMEN. Blame the Democraps. They were the ones who blindly voted for something that they had not read. The millstone of Obamacare should hang around their necks. San Fran Nan should be first in line since she said it would have to pass to find out what’s in it. Oh yeah, she conveniently exempted herself and other high level officials from the mandate to take Obamacare. THAT is the reason the GOP should repeal the monstrosity. The reckoning is coming.
I wish it was the UAW ans SEIU.
No one could have EVER predicted this!
I think we need more government intervention to fix what the last round of government intervention broke!
So 3M saves some money in the short run, but what happens years from now when more and more Americans are forced into taking their health care coverage from the Federal Government? You guessed it...faced with a failing program that is going into debt, the Feds will TAX evil Companies like 3M who made a profit off cutting benefits for employees.
End result is exactly what the Fed want: Socialized Health Care.
On the bright side, stuff like this will bring their whole ponzi-scheme house of cards down faster.
Here’s to crashing their fraudulent system! Now, what happens after the inevitable crash?
Barack Obama, June 23, 2009 :
“Let me be clear, When I say if you have your plan and you like it, or you have a doctor and you like your doctor, that you don’t have to change plans, what I’m saying is the government is not going to make you change plans under health reform.”
HEADLINES 6 months later:
1) http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2010/10/04/daily3.html
3M Co. will drop retirees from health plans, steer to Medicare
McDonald’s: Obamacare regulations will cause 30,000 employees to lose insurance
ObamaCare Victims:
Harvard Pilgrim was forced (by Medicare’s administration) to notify its customers that their plans would be canceled as of the end of this year. The company will offer another supplemental plan offering fewer benefits at a higher premium
A bad omen on Obamacare: Fears about health reform’s costs are coming true
... several major corporations reported it would take a bite out of their future earnings. This group included AT&T, Caterpillar, John Deere, Verizon and several other large employers.
5) http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/sep/30/obamacares-health-hazard/
Two major Minnesota insurers announced this week that they would stop selling individual policies because of Obamacare’s uncertainties. Instead, they are routing policyholders into more expensive plans. Meanwhile, Anthem BlueCross and BlueShield, Aetna, Cigna, CoventryOne, Humana and UnitedHealthCare have stopped offering many child-only policies because Obamacare would force them to enroll children with pre-existing conditions, creating incentives for parents to wait until children get sick before buying coverage and hitting insurance companies with the bills.
Barack Obama, June 23, 2009 :
“Let me be clear, When I say if you have your plan and you like it, or you have a doctor and you like your doctor, that you don’t have to change plans, what I’m saying is the government is not going to make you change plans under health reform
Only quibble with your post...it was never unintended from this regime.
“The government won’t make you change plans,” but they will create conditions that make it very unattractive for your present insurer to keep you the way you were.
GE didn’t. My mom had outstanding GE health benefits until she died last year.
Up to now Medicare’s been pretty good to seniors, of course they cost shift, and tax others for it, so why would seniors complain.
The 20 something crowd should be complaining about being uninsured (or paying alot) while being taxed for medicare, that is insult to injury. Their solution was to demand their own ‘free’ health care not realizing that the horses pulling the cart cant be riding in the cart too.
To the ‘hope and change’ crowd who voted for him it is unintended. For the people in charge, I agree with you 100%. Back door public option is what they settled on, and the regime is busy trying to undermine private insurers and employers at every turn so they can move the masses to gov’t healthcare.
More unintended consequences of liberalism and Obamacare.
Obama LIED when he said you could keep your healthcare, of course, but NO ONE has dared to call him on it!
Ain't gonna happen. At least not until the Republicans gain a majority. remember the hearings threat ince companies made the mandatory write-downs after Obama signed the bill? They got nipped in the bud once the RATs realized the companies would easily show why their action was warranted. The LAST THING the RATs want in the open is the truth.
OTOH, the republicans will be able to leverage hearings like that when making the case for repeal. Tell me, Mr. 3M CEO, why exactly did you make the decision to drop retiree coverage? No other choice, right? Duty to stockholders? Only way to remain competitive globally? Crushing cost increases?
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