Fourteen years ago I was a young know-it-all Linux geek working for an incredible employer, Indelible Blue. Once a leading retailer of IBM software and one of the fastest-growing companies in the area, Indelible Blue treated its employees like family. Even as a tiny company, it had on-site day care and some afternoons I could be found roller-blading around the parking lot with the company president. In 1999 it seemed Indelible Blue had a lot going for it.
You can imagine my surprise when a long-time employee, “Phyllis,” suddenly announced she was leaving. Phyllis was with the company right from the start and was an expert in the arcane IBM product known as MQ Series. Phyllis was a great person and her expertise was bringing lots of money to the company so I was baffled why she was leaving.
One rainy afternoon I sought her out as she stepped outside for a smoke break. She tearfully told me a heartbreaking story of how she loved her job and didn’t want to leave it but she had no choice. Her husband was suffering from a life-threatening health problem and Indelible Blue’s insurance coverage had been maxed out. Phyllis had to find another job or lose insurance coverage, which could lead to even worse consequences. A few weeks later she moved on.
I always thought the games insurance companies play are unfair. Health problems often are unfair. Disease and injuries strike both the rich and poor. If you’re unfortunate to be afflicted, the resulting medical bills can wipe out your life savings. Premiums have skyrocketed since that conversation I had in the rain fourteen years ago and there’s no doubt that they would’ve continued to rise had something not been done.
I don’t know how well Obamacare will work as it’s all still a mystery to me. I do know that healthcare expenses have been far outpacing inflation for a while now and the largesse of large healthcare organizations is sickening, pardon the pun. We spend billions of dollars on ways to tear people apart. Why isn’t it worth it to spend billions putting them back together?
Looks like I’m repeating myself but it still means a lot to me.