Walgreens Changes Health Care Plan for 160,000 Workers Because of Obamacare

[RandallFlagg]

What the Weekly Standard omits to mention in their article, is that this move will REDUCE health care costs for employees.

Are you smart enough to understand that paying less for healthcare is an improvement?

No.. the only thing that is ACTUALLY known is that it will reduce costs for the company.. it is unknown if the individual will save money and if they do save money if they will get the same level of coverage as they were under the employer plan.. Lest we forget that the taxes RAISE costing others MORE to SUBSIDIZE the government provided insurance

No, ACTUALLY a lot about what they are doing is known.

"Employees will be eligible for plans costing as low as $5 a month..."

Walgreen to Shift Health Plan for 160,000 Workers - WSJ.com

Look, this whole thing is the biggest crock of crap ever foisted on the American people and 90% of us realize it.

My Wife holds a MSN. She has been a Nurse for well over 30 years. She says the same thing. Healthcare cost are rising so fast that we can't even track them any longer. The Healthcare industry realizes that this boondoggle is going to have catastrophic results and is grabbing all they can, while they can.

What is the latest "innovation", you ask? Just as in England, (socialized medicine), PRIVATE PAY hospitals are beginning to spring up in America. Sure, right now there are only a handful, but wait. As in England, Private pay has become the way to go for those folks "of means".

You got the cash? You get treated - and treated well. For those with these wonderful ACA plans? You are going to pay through the nose. Watch and see. This "wonderful" thing that the democrats foisted upon America will prove to be a disaster very quickly.

 

[jknowgood]

Sonny, where I come from, paying less means getting less. Higher deductibles. Higher "out of pocket" expenses, less coverage for prescriptions,etc.

If paying 200 dollars a month, but paying 70% more for services seems like a good deal to you, then there isn't much I can do for you.

My suggestion to you? Quit drinking the Kool aid.

You do not have any indication that the move that Walgreens is making will result in lower quality plans. You have no idea whether out of pocket expenses will be higher. You are simply talking out of your ass. Where you come from, people must talk out of their asses.

Well moron, when is the last time you got something for nothing?

Dumbass.

Every month, when he gets his welfare check.

 

[Joe Steel]

This is going to suck for the employees yet again ... Because of Obama the American people get screwed. Because if we did not have Obamacare these employees would still have the same healthcare they have prior to Obamacare

Utter nonsense. The capitalists who run Walgreen's are doing this not Obama.

 

[Political Junky]

What the Weekly Standard omits to mention in their article, is that this move will REDUCE health care costs for employees.

Are you smart enough to understand that paying less for healthcare is an improvement?

Sonny, where I come from, paying less means getting less. Higher deductibles. Higher "out of pocket" expenses, less coverage for prescriptions,etc.

If paying 200 dollars a month, but paying 70% more for services seems like a good deal to you, then there isn't much I can do for you.

My suggestion to you? Quit drinking the Kool aid.

You do not have any indication that the move that Walgreens is making will result in lower quality plans. You have no idea whether out of pocket expenses will be higher. You are simply talking out of your ass. Where you come from, people must talk out of their asses.

Congress will have to get their health insurance through exchanges, as well.

 

[EriktheRed]

Walgreens Changes Health Care Plan for 160,000 Workers Because of Obamacare | The Weekly Standard

In short, the move is to protect Walgreens from Obamacacre. “Rising health-care costs and a climate of change brought about by the new federal health law are prompting American corporations to revisit the pact they've long had with employees over medical benefits. … Aside from rising health-care costs, the company cited compliance-related expenses associated with the new law as a reason for the switch,” as the Wall Street Journal reports.

This is going to suck for the employees yet again ... Because of Obama the American people get screwed. Because if we did not have Obamacare these employees would still have the same healthcare they have prior to Obamacare

What the Weekly Standard omits to mention in their article, is that this move will REDUCE health care costs for employees.

Are you smart enough to understand that paying less for healthcare is an improvement?

Wouldn't be surprised to find the answer is "no" in her case.

 

[EriktheRed]

Sonny, where I come from, paying less means getting less. Higher deductibles. Higher "out of pocket" expenses, less coverage for prescriptions,etc.

If paying 200 dollars a month, but paying 70% more for services seems like a good deal to you, then there isn't much I can do for you.

My suggestion to you? Quit drinking the Kool aid.

You do not have any indication that the move that Walgreens is making will result in lower quality plans. You have no idea whether out of pocket expenses will be higher. You are simply talking out of your ass. Where you come from, people must talk out of their asses.

Well moron, when is the last time you got something for nothing?

Dumbass.

Simple fact of the matter is, stupid, is that you don't know the quality of the plans they're being switched to, regardless of the lower cost, so for you to say it's a bad deal for them is talking out your stupid wingnut ass...




...something which comes pretty naturally to you, anyway.

 

[RandallFlagg]

You do not have any indication that the move that Walgreens is making will result in lower quality plans. You have no idea whether out of pocket expenses will be higher. You are simply talking out of your ass. Where you come from, people must talk out of their asses.

Well moron, when is the last time you got something for nothing?

Dumbass.

Simple fact of the matter is, stupid, is that you don't know the quality of the plans they're being switched to, regardless of the lower cost, so for you to say it's a bad deal for them is talking out your stupid wingnut ass...




...something which comes pretty naturally to you, anyway.

You're right, I don't. Tell you what...why don't YOU sign up for this wonderful innovation in modern healthcare and then come back here and tell me just how wrong I am.

Get your $100 a month plan that covers nothing. Make your first trip to the Emergency Room for whatever and then get a bill for $2,000. Then tell us how GREAT the ACA is. Pay $95 dollars for your next antibiotic. Then come back here and tell us all how great it is.

And you're foolish enough to call me stupid. Tell me, idiot - who the hell do you think is going to cover these costs? Obama? the "gubmit"? Are you insane? Who is going to pick up the tab for all those who have "pre-existing" conditions? The "gubmit"? The Insurance companies?

Just a little friendly advice here.... Grow up.

 

[LoneLaugher]

Now THAT is one strong argument! Damn!

 

[EriktheRed]

Well moron, when is the last time you got something for nothing?

Dumbass.

Simple fact of the matter is, stupid, is that you don't know the quality of the plans they're being switched to, regardless of the lower cost, so for you to say it's a bad deal for them is talking out your stupid wingnut ass...




...something which comes pretty naturally to you, anyway.

You're right, I don't. Tell you what...why don't YOU sign up for this wonderful innovation in modern healthcare and then come back here and tell me just how wrong I am.

Get your $100 a month plan that covers nothing. Make your first trip to the Emergency Room for whatever and then get a bill for $2,000. Then tell us how GREAT the ACA is. Pay $95 dollars for your next antibiotic. Then come back here and tell us all how great it is.

And you're foolish enough to call me stupid. Tell me, idiot - who the hell do you think is going to cover these costs? Obama? the "gubmit"? Are you insane? Who is going to pick up the tab for all those who have "pre-existing" conditions? The "gubmit"? The Insurance companies?

Just a little friendly advice here.... Grow up.

We all cover these costs, including ignoramuses such as yourself who feels he shouldn't have to because FREEDOM!™

It's the law now, though, so guess what. You do.

 

[francoHFW]

The WALGREENS HEALTH CARE PLANS WERE TOTAL BS THAT VERY FEW BOTHERED WITH, HATER DUPES. The rest of your misinformation is also fear mongering propaganda.

 

[Greenbeard]

My Wife holds a MSN. She has been a Nurse for well over 30 years. She says the same thing. Healthcare cost are rising so fast that we can't even track them any longer. The Healthcare industry realizes that this boondoggle is going to have catastrophic results and is grabbing all they can, while they can.

Actually, there really isn't any historical precedent in the last half century for health care costs rising as slowly as they are today.

Growth of Health Spending Stays Low

The rate of increase in health spending, 3.9 percent in 2011, was the same as in 2009 and 2010 — the lowest annual rates recorded in the 52 years the government has been collecting such data.

The official announcements of those rates tend to have a time lag (e.g. that 2013 announcement regarding 2011 spending) but, spoiler alert, the trend has continued: July 2013 health spending growth returns to historically low level

The data for this month show a return to the historically low spending growth rate of 3.9% that is reported by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in the official government NHE data for each of the 3 years between 2009 and 2011 (the latest year for which the official estimates exist). For the first 7 months of 2013, spending was 4.1% higher than the same period in 2012.

Health care price inflation, too:

Medical-Price Inflation Is at Slowest Pace in 50 Years

Medical prices are rising at their slowest pace in a half century, a shift in the health-care industry that could provide relief to government and businesses' budgets while also signaling consumers are being left with a larger share of the bill.

The prices paid for medical care in July rose just 1% from a year earlier, the slowest annual rate of growth since the early 1960s, according to Commerce Department data. Health-care increases now trail overall inflation, which itself has been historically slow in recent years.

The price data help explain why growth in overall health spending has slowed down in the past several years. The trend, if continued, has big implications for the government's finances because health-care costs are the biggest long-term driver of the federal deficit.

"Medical Costs Register First Decline Since 1970s

U.S. consumers’ health-care costs fell in May [2013] for the first time in almost four decades, the latest evidence that government policies and an expansion in generic drugs are holding back prices.

 

[francoHFW]

Health costs doubled just under Boosh- FINALLY SOMETHING is being done now- Pubs are just scared the dupes will figure out they've been lied to for years now about O-care...

 

[Political Junky]

Health costs doubled just under Boosh- FINALLY SOMETHING is being done now- Pubs are just scared the dupes will figure out they've been lied to for years now about O-care...

Bush, Jr. was very kind to health insurance and big pharma.

 

[Lovebears65]

The real thing is if it wasnt for Obamacare. CVS and Walgreen employees would have the same insurance prior to Obamacare.Now they will not and Obama promised NOTHING WILL change in our insurance. He stood up there and said ..[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfl55GgHr5E]"If you like your plan, you can keep your plan." - Barack Obama - YouTube[/ame] He lied!!

 

[francoHFW]

Their 'mini-plans' were like McDonalds ones, pure crappe that nobody bothered with, Pub dupe. Now they can get real healyh care...

 

[williepete]

We're already seeing a slight reduction in the Doctors who accept Medicare and Medicaid patients because of the lower than market reimbursement rate. (60% lower). Clinics can only afford to accept a smaller percentage of these reduced government rate patients. Obamacare is of the same ilk. Bureaucrats, with no knowledge of medicine or business, set price controls.

So: You get your little bronze plan that you can barely afford and you get your little Obamacare card and you waltz down to the clinic for treatment and they tell you they don't accept your coverage same as Medicare or Medicaid. What are you going to do now after you've been forced to buy this plan--a plan than you now find out is worthless?

Price and wage controls have historically come with unintended consequences. By some estimates, Obamacare is going to force 40 million people into a health care system without adding a single doctor or nurse. Compounding the problem, a huge percentage of our health care professionals are of the Baby Boomer generation and are leaving the workforce by the hundreds every month.

The government is forcing 40 million people to buy a product. They will be fined if they don't. (Another topic). You'll buy your policy under duress and pay for it every month. When you need health care, you'll find fewer and fewer care givers will take your coverage. They simply can't afford to at the government mandated reimbursement rates. We're already seeing it with Medicare and Medicaid. You think adding 40 million more to the pot is going to make it better? Really?

This was either a major screw up by Pelosi and Reid or it was deliberately designed to bilk the public out of billions. They failed with their carbon tax but they zinged you with Obamacare.

Pay up suckers. Yes we can. Hope and Change.

 

[auditor0007]

Walgreens Changes Health Care Plan for 160,000 Workers Because of Obamacare | The Weekly Standard

This is going to suck for the employees yet again ... Because of Obama the American people get screwed. Because if we did not have Obamacare these employees would still have the same healthcare they have prior to Obamacare

What the Weekly Standard omits to mention in their article, is that this move will REDUCE health care costs for employees.

Are you smart enough to understand that paying less for healthcare is an improvement?

No.. the only thing that is ACTUALLY known is that it will reduce costs for the company.. it is unknown if the individual will save money and if they do save money if they will get the same level of coverage as they were under the employer plan.. Lest we forget that the taxes RAISE costing others MORE to SUBSIDIZE the government provided insurance

You guys crack me up. You had no problem with healthcare costs increasing ten to fifteen percent every single year during the Bush years, but now you are crying over two to four percent increases. It's laughable. Spending on healthcare has been going down since the ACA was passed. Now whether that continues or not is yet to be seen, but all this crying from you guys just goes to show how truly uninformed you are.

 

[auditor0007]

We're already seeing a slight reduction in the Doctors who accept Medicare and Medicaid patients because of the lower than market reimbursement rate. (60% lower). Clinics can only afford to accept a smaller percentage of these reduced government rate patients. Obamacare is of the same ilk. Bureaucrats, with no knowledge of medicine or business, set price controls.

So: You get your little bronze plan that you can barely afford and you get your little Obamacare card and you waltz down to the clinic for treatment and they tell you they don't accept your coverage same as Medicare or Medicaid. What are you going to do now after you've been forced to buy this plan--a plan than you now find out is worthless?

Price and wage controls have historically come with unintended consequences. By some estimates, Obamacare is going to force 40 million people into a health care system without adding a single doctor or nurse. Compounding the problem, a huge percentage of our health care professionals are of the Baby Boomer generation and are leaving the workforce by the hundreds every month.

The government is forcing 40 million people to buy a product. They will be fined if they don't. (Another topic). You'll buy your policy under duress and pay for it every month. When you need health care, you'll find fewer and fewer care givers will take your coverage. They simply can't afford to at the government mandated reimbursement rates. We're already seeing it with Medicare and Medicaid. You think adding 40 million more to the pot is going to make it better? Really?

This was either a major screw up by Pelosi and Reid or it was deliberately designed to bilk the public out of billions. They failed with their carbon tax but they zinged you with Obamacare.

Pay up suckers. Yes we can. Hope and Change.

Sorry to correct you but the plans that will be offered on the open exchanges will pay out pretty much the same amounts as employer sponsored insurance to doctors and hospitals. You are misinformed. Not surprising.

 

[Steven_R]

Whose spending has gone down? My insurance rates have doubled since Obamacare was passed, and for my increased premiums I now get less coverage. My coworkers are in the same boat and none of my friends or family have seen their costs drop at all. Anecdote may not be evidence, but I have yet to hear from anyone who has cheaper healthcare than they did before Obamacare was jammed down our throats.

 

[auditor0007]

My Wife holds a MSN. She has been a Nurse for well over 30 years. She says the same thing. Healthcare cost are rising so fast that we can't even track them any longer. The Healthcare industry realizes that this boondoggle is going to have catastrophic results and is grabbing all they can, while they can.

Actually, there really isn't any historical precedent in the last half century for health care costs rising as slowly as they are today.

Growth of Health Spending Stays Low

The rate of increase in health spending, 3.9 percent in 2011, was the same as in 2009 and 2010 — the lowest annual rates recorded in the 52 years the government has been collecting such data.

The official announcements of those rates tend to have a time lag (e.g. that 2013 announcement regarding 2011 spending) but, spoiler alert, the trend has continued: July 2013 health spending growth returns to historically low level


Health care price inflation, too:

Medical-Price Inflation Is at Slowest Pace in 50 Years

Medical prices are rising at their slowest pace in a half century, a shift in the health-care industry that could provide relief to government and businesses' budgets while also signaling consumers are being left with a larger share of the bill.

The prices paid for medical care in July rose just 1% from a year earlier, the slowest annual rate of growth since the early 1960s, according to Commerce Department data. Health-care increases now trail overall inflation, which itself has been historically slow in recent years.

The price data help explain why growth in overall health spending has slowed down in the past several years. The trend, if continued, has big implications for the government's finances because health-care costs are the biggest long-term driver of the federal deficit.

"Medical Costs Register First Decline Since 1970s

U.S. consumers’ health-care costs fell in May [2013] for the first time in almost four decades, the latest evidence that government policies and an expansion in generic drugs are holding back prices.

I guarantee you they will tell you that you are wrong about this and they'll slap each other on the back in total agreement. Of course, they will be wrong as always, but none the less, they'll whoop it up and tell everyone how dumb you are.