My purpose for writing both letters was purely personal. My wife and myself are currently AT&T retirees, having spent almost fifty years in total working for AT&T. As a result of that long service, we are blessed to have AT&T provide health insurance coverage in our retirement years. One of President Obama's selling points of Obama Care was that those Americans that currently had private health care plans would continue to still have them, nothing would change.
However, as the months have gone by, AT&T (Fortune magazine article from early August, 2010) and other major corporations (e.g. Verizon, John Deere, Caterpillar, McDonalds) have hinted that they may drop their employee and retiree health care coverage because under Obama Care it is less expensive to pay a fine for not providing health care then it is to continue providing health care coverage. Thus, my letters below to the the Democratic White House Administration (Letter # 3 below) and Democratic Senator Bill Nelson (Letter #2 below).
Unfortunately, after five months, neither party has responded to my request and answered my questions. Not only have they not answered to my questions, they have not responded at all, not even to admit that they received my correspondence, never mind answering my relatively simple and important questions. Talk about poor customer service, not even an acknowledgement of receipt. And this from a Presidential administration that bills itself as the most open and communicative administration ever. In fact, I have never received any confirmation from my numerous White House inquires, both by email and snail mail, even though I have requested an answer every time.
Given their callous lack of response, I made good on my threat and for the first time ever in my life (I am almost 60 years old), I voted for a Republican for national office this past November. For the first time ever, I was actually happy to see the Republican gains in Congress, given the cold shoulder the Democrats gave to me on something that is very important, and potentially very expensive, in my life.
Letter # 1 below is a new letter I sent out to Senator Nelson earlier this week. I will be very interested to see if this one gets a response, either next week, next month, five months down the road or never. I want to see if the first letter got "lost" or just got ignored.
In the meantime, let's review why Obama Care continues to fall apart:
- Probably millions Americans like myself that worked or continue to work for major U.S. corporations face the very real threat of losing their health insurance coverage and being forced to find new coverage, quite possibly at much higher prices. This situation potentially will cause more Americans to lose coverage and end up paying more for coverage, the exact opposite of what was intended.
- A Reuters news report from January 6, 2011 reported that 33 governors sent a letter to the administration pointing out that they were having severe budget difficulties funding existing Federal mandated insurance programs even before the onslaught of additional Obama Care funding requirements become a reality.
- The administration has already issued over a hundred waivers to the health care legislation for some companies' health insurance plans to account for unforeseen consequences of the bill's passage, just months after the passage occurred. How many more unforeseen conseqences are likely to appear as we go forward? Historically, unforeseen consequences from political class actions are almost always bad news for Americans.
- Today on the local Tampa news reports it was reported that three of the largest blood banks in Tampa are likely to merge into one super blood bank company. An Associated Press report in late 2010 reported on a "merger frenzy" in many components of the health care industry as a result of Obama Care. Thus, rather than increasing competition which would result in lowering the skyrocketing health care costs in this country, the legislation is having the unintended consequence of actually reducing competition through the merger frenzy.
- The legislation is highly unlikely to reduce the Federal budget. The legislation was sold in by quoting a Congressional Budget Office estimate that it would reduce Federal spending by $135 billion over the first ten years. However, shortly after that estimate helped pass the bill, the Associated Press reported that the CBO did not estimate costs for all of the components of the bill. Their $135 billion savings estimate left out over $100 billion of costs, virtually wiping out the purported gain. And, since the passage of the bill, reputable analytic efforts, such as an in-depth review by the Cato Institute, have shown that the bill could add at least a TRILLION to the national debt.
- Do not even get me started how the legislation will make criminal out of a sizable number of Americans who choose not to pay for government mandated insurance.
- The major flaw in the legislation is that it did not attack the root causes of our rising health care costs. These costs are high because Americans eat too much, they eat too much of the wrong food, they smoke too much, they do not exercise enough, and they are getting older. Rather than treat the problem as a public health issue, which it is, they treated it as a tax and government regulation issue, dooming it to an expensive failure.
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Letter # 1 - Mailed January 9, 2011
Senator Nelson:
Five months ago I sent your office the attached letters, one addressed to you and one addressed to President Obama. My wife and I are former AT&T employees and are now retired. AT&T provides our health care insurance and they do a fine job of it with their high deductible plan. Since we are responsible for the first thousand dollars or so of our coverage and expenses, the plan encourages us to take personal responsibility for our health care, resulting in lower costs for everyone involved. Let me be very clear: we are very happy with our current health care insurance.
However, the AT&T Chairman strongly implied in a Fortune magazine interview article last summer that it was highly likely that AT&T would drop this insurance plan for its current and retired employees. From a corporate perspective, under Obama Care it is financially better for AT&T to drop its coverage for millions of Americans and pay the Obama Care fine than it is to continue offering their current plan, or any plan.
In light of this very depressing news, I asked the President’s office and your office for help in answering our health care questions. My wife and I are both in our late 50s and she has a pre-existing condition. Looking for health care under these conditions is not something we expected to have to do. In fact, the President claimed during the debate on Obama Care that we could keep our existing insurance coverage. This turned out to be a hollow promise if AT&T and other companies drop their plans altogether as a result of Obama Care, as many have already suggested they will do.
What is just as depressing is the fact that neither your office or the President’s office had the common decency to even acknowledge receipt of these letters. This is horrific customer service - a constituent contacts you for help and you do not have the class or courage to answer and address our concerns. Is it no wonder that Democrats took a shellacking in November - not only have you potentially ruined health care insurance for millions of Americans you will not even defend it or help those that you put into distress.
So, I am trying again. The questions in the original letter remain unanswered. I would appreciate answers to those questions. If I get no response this time, I guarantee I will become actively involved in your defeat the next time you run for any office.
Walter Korschek
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Letter # 2 - Mailed early August, 2010
Senator:
The letter below is being sent to the President at the same time that it is being mailed to you. As you can see, I am not a happy American since I am highly likely to lose my AT&T retiree health care coverage as a result of the recently passed health care reform legislation, a law that you voted to approve. I am asking the President to answer the three questions below and I am also asking that you or a member of your staff do the same. Myself and millions of other Americans are likely to lose their corporate health insurance coverage and I feel we are entitled to answers like those I have posed.
I would prefer to have those answers from your staff by November in order to fully understand who to vote for at that time. Beware, that those answers will also carry over to 2014 when I believe you are up for re-election. Please be forewarned that that is unlikely if your answers are unsatisfactory or millions of us have lost our insurance coverage by then. This is not a hope for answers to these three questions, this is a demand for answers to these three questions without political spin or generalities. I would like to know the answers to my particular situation. Have a nice day,
Walter “Bruno” Korschek
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Letter # 3 - Mailed early August, 2010August 13, 2010
Mr. President:
I know that you are a very busy man so I will try to keep my questions about health care reform and the recently passed legislation as short and simple as possible.
I could ask you why you think this is a good piece of legislation even though I truly believe that it will be a failure and will come very close to bankrupting the country. The basis for my conclusion has nothing to do with political partisanship (in fact, I have never voted for a Republican for national office in my life.) From my perspective, "Obama Care" never effectively addressed the root causes of our escalating health care costs: Americans eat too much of the wrong kinds of food, they exercise far too little, they are overweight, they smoke too much, and they are getting older. This legislation does not address these causes, it just raises taxes and moves money around within the bureaucracy. I could ask you about this but I will not.
I could ask you why you have not stepped forward and denounced those in your party that have likened Americans like myself, i.e. those that have legitimate and honest concerns about this health care reform bill, to the racists who fought against the civil rights movement from the 1960s. I thought that we lived in a free country where citizens could freely address their elected representatives without being slurred in the most debasing way possible, just for having a different opinion. Your lack of fortitude to oppose those Democrats who frequently use the term "racist" to malign myself and those Americans expressing their honest opposition, cheapens the bravery and contributions of those from long ago that fought actual racism. I could ask you about this but I will not.
I could ask you why you felt it necessary to pass this legislation by the back door called reconciliation. This is a major, major issue in the country that will affect every American for decades to come. Sneaking it in the back door, without using the traditional, time honored method of passing laws in his country, belittles the approach and makes it look like it was forced through without the full weight of the democratic process behind it. I could ask you about this but I will not.
Here is what I will ask you about. But first, some background facts:
- Let me reiterate that both my wife and myself have never voted for a Republican for national office in our lives.
- We both spent several decades of our lives working hard for AT&T, retiring several years ago, secure in our thinking that AT&T's promise of health care benefits and coverage for our long years of service was a good bet.
- We both try to eat well, we exercise at our local YMCA on an almost daily basis, neither of us smoke, and we rarely drink. In other words, we take personal responsibility for our health and our health care.
- One reason for our personal responsibility behavior is that we are on a high deductible insurance plan with AT&T. We are each - responsible for the first $1,200 of our annual health care costs before we get any insurance coverage at all. However, for this personal responsibility, we also pay nothing in annual premiums.
- During the debate leading up to the passage of health care reform, you reiterated more than once that those of us that currently had health care coverage would be able to keep it. However, in a recent article in Fortune magazine, the CEO of AT&T, Randall Stephenson, was interviewed (several pages of the article are attached). Towards the end of the interview, he was explicitly asked whether AT&T would consider dropping health care insurance coverage for its employees and retirees. His response made it clear that this was a very viable option for two reasons. First, from a business profitability perspective, under the new health care reform law, "you're better off paying the government a fine and dropping health care coverage for your employees", improving AT&Ts bottom line. Second, he talks about "economic gravity" which appears to be code words for "if others in his industry do it, AT&T will have no choice but to do it also."
Thus, a few quick questions for you:
1) Were you just naive when you made the comments that we could all keep our current health care insurance, not realizing the simple fact that companies are in business to make money and if this bill makes it easier for them to make more money by not insuring their workforce, that is what they will do? Or were you being disingenuous, knowing that this would happen and deliberately misinforming the country to help get your health care reform bill passed? Naive or disingenuous, in either case you will be making millions of American voters unhappy in November and in 2012 when we are forced out of our current health care coverage and will blame you for either ignorance or arrogance in this situation.
2) I am 57 years old and my wife is 56 years old and if Mr. Stephenson does decide to terminate AT&T's health care coverage for employees and retirees, where do you suggest that my wife and I get coverage? What insurance company is going to want to pick us up, and millions of other older Americans who lost their coverage, at our ages even though we are both healthy and taking personal responsibility for our continued good health?
3) If we are forced out onto the market for health care insurance coverage, our new coverage is likely going to be much more expensive. Our annual health care costs will go from a maximum of $1,200 each to a minimum of several thousand dollars each. Is this how you planned to reduce health care costs for middle class America? Is so, then you need to explain the math to me. Maximum of $1,200 to a minimum of several thousand dollars, does not make sense out here in the real world. How does this reduce the escalating health care costs for the 90% of Americans that already had health care insurance prior to the passage of this bill?
Thus, I am not going to ask you about why you and the rest of Congress did not address the root causes of high health care costs in your legislating process. I am not going to ask why you have sat back and been silent while those Americans with legitimate and honest dissent against this bill have been likened to racists by members of your party. I thought you represented all Americans, not just those that agreed with your policies. I will not ask you about why you did not have the courage and guts to pass this legislation the right way, through the front door like every other piece of legislation, but instead snuck it through the back door of reconciliation.
However, I will ask you or your staff to contact me and explain where and how I can get health care coverage at my age if AT&T and the rest of corporate America decides it is a better economic choice to pay a government fine than to cover their employees and retirees with health insurance. I will ask you to explain whether you were naive or disingenuous when explaining that we would be able to keep our current health insurance coverage. And finally, please explain how paying no more than $1,200 a year under my current coverage (with many years paying nothing for coverage during healthy years) is a better deal then finding new coverage at my age and paying several thousand dollars a year for the privilege.
Although I have written to the White House many times, I have never received any answer to my questions on a wide variety of topics even though you promised to have the most open and responsive administration of all time. That has not happened yet. However, in this case I do require, in fact I demand specific answers to my three questions above, and not generic political spin answers either. For your sake I hope to receive those answers before early November and certainly before 2012.
Thank you for your time,
Walter "Bruno" Korschek
Address
Phone Number
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