People never cease to amaze me. Even after the daily headlines and a little bit of pulpit punching, rising health care costs still manage to shock and awe. Seriously, in this age of 24-hour news and chronic Web consumption, how is that even possible? It's like someone pulling up to the gas pump and exploding over the $4 a gallon price tag.
And yet it is. Just this morning, employees here flocked to the conference room to hear about the changes to this year's plan. And as the sarcasm sank into hostility, I couldn't figure out whether my co-workers honestly had no idea about health care in this country or whether they thought they were buying a car. As if complaining about the price might get the rep to lower the co-pay just to seal the deal.
Which reminds me of the old insurance analogy. No one is surprised when they get in a car accident and their premiums go up. There's no picketing or riots in the streets. And even though it's the same thing — namely, insurance — lock the doors and hide your daughters if you head to the emergency room a couple of times and your co-pays get bumped up.
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On a side note, for the first time this year, our broker sat out the renewal at our office this year (and, honestly, who could blame him). Instead, he brought along a carrier rep to throw to the wolves. She started off strong, but stumbled toward the finish, And it even the most disgruntled of our employees could tell she cut her presentation short, wrapping things up less than 15 minutes into the heckling. Maybe our broker should bring Michael Richards next year.
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