UPS weekly H&W contribution

[crystal_ball]

In Central States, I think its about $225 a week. I want to be my own H&W administrator and not contribute to this crisis. What is the deal in Canada since medicine is socialized? How much would the pharm lobby pay to keep any PPO/H&W study from concluding that Canadian meds are cheaper? Corporate/Govt/Fund Mgr greed. Any connection here? Just keep the middle class/working man down. Any responses from other areas including Canada would be appreciated. Why such a difference in domestic pension rules? Is it because someone was made accountable or needed re-elected? I just dont want to contribute because IMO this is legalized domestic terrorism.

 

[wkmac]

"I want to be my own H&W administrator and not contribute to this crisis."

Hooray for Crystal Ball. I've been saying this for a longtime but few people will even listen. Glad to see there are others out there starting to wake up.

As for Canada's situation look very closely at it before you jump on board. The thing to look for is how much in tax revenue is needed to pay for this venture and from what source do the tax dollars come from? The upfront costs may be great but is the "devil in the details" hidden in the out of sight tax dollars you pay and in reality the cost is still high. High medical costs are a continuing problem in this country but we keep looking at the so called greedy medical providers whether the individual doctor or the various corp. medical entities.

One area that has fallen outside the radar scope has been gov't itself and it's own guiltiness in this but also we all need to look at ourselves in that we have come to demand insurance not so much be insurance but a payment plan. Think about your car insurance in that if you have a major accident you have a co-pay (deductible) and then the rest is generally covered. If your battery goes dead do you submit a claim with you car insurance? What if all of a sudden we demand the auto insurers start paying for dead batteries, windshield wiper blades, oil changes and tune-ups not to mention the whole hosts of major repairs a car can see over it's life, do you think our insurance costs would stay the same? This is exactly what we have done with medical coverage and now we're inside a neverending vortex that in all probability will be painful short term to get out of.

How soon the solution is solved or the appearance of being solved I should say is anyone's guess but I do think it fair to say that many UPS Teamsters at some point in the future will get hurt. For starters I'd suggest every UPS Teamster get a 401k account and put the max percent annually in the thing. Another move is for every UPS Teamster to demand now that all retirement work restrictions end immediately with not only Central States but any other plan as well. I don't think we'll stop the bleeding with these plans but we might as well protect ourselves in the event these plans don't meet the needs and those retirees can then seek employment to help supplement their incomes. JMO.

Oh, one other note. Don't know the exact figure but I think that $225 a week is a little lite in the wallet!

(Message edited by wkmac on November 19, 2003)

 

[traveler]

wkmac

You sure hit the nail on the head with the auto insurance comparison. What many don't realize is that simply put any insurance is a fund. It must be supported by an inflow of money. That money coming in must cover claims paid out, overhead (salaries, etc.) and a fair profit. That money may come from the government in Canada and other countries but the only source of $ by any government is taxes. All these countries have done is to put a different layer of bureaucracy (had to look that one up!) in the formula.

One other thing I might add to your insightful post is that in many cases we in the United States have more medicine than we can afford.

 

[ups79]

I will tell you what has pissed me off for years. How many of you drivers out there have seen the pharma representatives carrying into a doctors office dinner for everyone working there. These people are the wealthy class, they don't need to be fed a meal. Let the pharma companies cut back on these expenses and lower some the cost of prescriptions.