View From the Bushes

Okay, so through some accident of fate I'm a member of my company's benefits vetting committee. In other words, once a quarter (or there abouts) they gather me and a number of other people from all over the company together and tell us what they're thinking of changing about the benefits and we tell them what we think. The latest thing they're thinking of doing is adding a third option to the benefits package. We currently have Blue Cross and Blue Cross ValueCare; they want to add a $0 premium high deductable option, just as an option. But it was at this point that all Hell broke loose.

When they say that in a normal group benefit plan that the healthy subside the unhealthy, they are talking about the lady who was sitting in front of me. This person probably has about 10-20 times the medical bills of the average employee, and this is not my assumption -- she frequently regales us with tales of her expensive operations. Well, when the HR director announced this third option she when through the roof. Her rant started by talking about people too stupid to make their own health care decisions and after five minutes of wild-eyed madness it ended by accusing the company of being in the pockets of the Heritage Foundation and neo-con fascists.

Then another lady joined in and proceeded to monopolize the conversation for the next fifteen minutes. Finally after multiple unsuccessful attempts to interrupt, I told them to shut up (not in those exact words), that the two of them had had their say and it was the rest of the committee's turn. After I voiced my support, it turned out that basically everyone else supported the idea as well. It's amazing how even in that small of a setting how a vocal minority can dominate the thinking of the decision makers... There are a whole bunch of other morals to this story as well, but they're all even more overtly political, so I'll avoid them.

Much cheerier with a full night's sleep
Ross