Moving the Ends

"About the time we think we can make ends meet, somebody moves the ends." - Herbert Hoover

For years, I've been listening to politicians say how they "understand" how people feel when money gets tight.  Do they really?  The high profile ones will bring home much more every month than the typical family so how can they possibly understand how the common person struggles with how to make dinner for 6 people with 1 pound of hamburger and a can of green beans? 

The whole mess with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is along those same lines.  A person will now be forced to pay extra taxes (or "penalty" if you prefer that word even though the ruling said it's constituional as a tax and not a penalty) if he or she can afford health insurance, but chooses not to purchase it.  Who defines the word "afford?"  I can "afford" to buy lobster for my entire family for dinner tonight; of course, I would not be able to feed them for the next 2 weeks or pay the utility bills.  That person who chooses not to carry insurance may be very healthy and able to pay out of pocket for annual visits.  So why force someone to purchase a product that may never be used?

Some companies have decided it's cheaper to pay the business penalty rather than offer insurance for the employees.  What happens then?  I pay more than $700 a month for a family insurance plan that I get through my employer.  My divorce papers from my first marriage state I am to carry the insurance on the kids through my employer.  So what happens if my employer decides to drop our coverage?  I'll tell you what will happen - I will get a nasty letter from the state stating they will reduce the amount of child support I receive each month to pay for state-sponsored health care on the kids.  This is what happened when I lost my job a few years ago and was between insurance plans.

The idea behind the ACA was to be sure no family went broke because of healthcare costs.  There will still be deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses that a person will have to pay, which means if something catastrophic happens, there will still be additional costs (in addition to the insurance premiums or tax penalty) that will have to be paid.  Where's the incentive?

I wish the government would just stay out of my personal life.  My "ends" are hard enough to meet without their "help."