And so, the week limps along. We got lots of rain last night by the sound of things, but it seems to have tapered off now. Obama is supposed to sign the health care bill into law today, and then the Senate will supposedly fix all the worst parts of it using the reconciliation process. Or something. It’s all pretty convoluted. Why they couldn’t just pass a law that says if you don’t have insurance you can buy into Medicare at $X per month based on your income (and if your income is low enough, you pay nada), is beyond me. Oh, that’s right, the insurance industry wouldn’t allow that (plus, then I might have to “wait” to get an appointment). Oh well.

I’m lucky in that my insurance only entails a $20 co-pay for an “in network” provider, and that’s it. Plus it doesn’t qualify for the “Cadillac” insurance excise tax, being that the annual premium will hopefully fall under the maximum allowed – which is $8,500 for individuals or $23,000 for a family (including vision and dental benefits) in the current version, or $10,200 and $27,500 (not including vision and dental) if the reconciliation package passes (at least for now; when everybody proactively raises their rates to protect their future profit margins, it might be a different story). The thing is, I’m not sure. My vision and dental benefits are provided by my union, so I don’t know if they count towards the (current, non-reconciliation) limit or not (and, anyway, I have no clue what the premiums are, since it has something to do with what the union negotiated with the employer, I think, plus a part of my union dues). Either way, I think I’m good (better under reconciliation, of course), ‘cuz I take the cheapest insurance available to me (not being particularly fussy about what quack doctor I go to; they’re all the same to me), but there are other people where I work who might get screwed.

St. John McCain says he’s gonna stop being bipartisan. Gee, what a loss. The Republicans will no longer cooperate. They’re vewy, vewy angwy, you know. Papa John Boehner was so mad, he turned a new shade of orange.

The big question is, have Republicans jumped the shark with their rabid opposition to this legislation? Many, if not most, will see no difference whatsoever in their current status. And, really, most of us don’t really spend a lot of time giving a shit about other people (if we did, we’d have universal health care, now wouldn’t we?). Premiums might go up, but, hell, they keep going up anyway. I suppose they can blame increases on HCR, but, mostly, I think it’ll all be forgotten pretty quickly. Except for the people who get to keep their kids on their insurance for a few more years, old folks who start getting “doughnut hole” rebates, and small businesses who start to get real relief for providing health insurance to their employees.

If Democrats were smart (I know, I know), they’d now ram a real jobs bill though (something along the lines of the WPA), while emphasizing that Republicans don’t give a crap whether they rot and die jobless and without health care. Of course, they need to ask their corporate masters for permission, first.

Oh well, time to put the icepack in the freezer, and limp out to face the day.