Do You Read the Fine Print?

“Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils.  Of what account is he?” (Isaiah 2:22).

Do you read the fine print? I have never been a detail reader of the “fine print” placed in documents by legal attorneys.  That is not to say that I blindly sign all documents without reading. In days gone by you could rely on honesty between individuals and their explanations of the “fine print.” Contracts were fairly simple in nature, and if you upheld your commitment all went well. Humor me here, and let’s not get into contract law and all that stuff.  I understand the necessity.

Twenty-ten is a new year with reset medical plan deductibles for most people who have some form of health insurance.  I am thankful that I have medical insurance, but there has been and always will be “fine print” that I care not to read.  

When I began my career with Southern Bell in 1970, I had great medical coverage.  It was one of those benefits you soon came to take for granted.  Southern Bell at that time was under the umbrella of AT&T.  Eventually AT&T was broken up and Southern Bell became BellSouth.  Now AT&T has bought BellSouth, and we have almost gone full circle with AT&T owning many of its original entities. Go figure.

I could have retired from BellSouth in the early nineties with a “no cost to me” medical benefit plan.  I chose to continue to work but slowly my medical plan changed, and I was saddled with paying a portion of my medical expense coverage. BellSouth no longer paid the entire cost of medical care. After all, there were exorbitant executive salaries and perks to pay, and the cost of medical benefits were beginning to escalate for employers.  However, my medical co-pay for drugs remained low, usually under twelve dollars for the medications I took.

Medicare is now my primary care provider, and my retirement medical coverage as provided by AT&T is classed as secondary coverage.  CVS Caremark administers AT&T’s drug plan.  I now have a deductible of approximately twelve hundred dollars per year plus a larger co-pay for any drugs that I may require.  Heaven forbid that I “mess up” and do not use an approved provider, hospital or my authorized mail order drug system, as my cost would sky rocket out of control.

Now, I am not complaining about my medical benefits.  I worked for the medical benefits that I have, and I am thankful that I am still able to afford a medical plan even though “verbal management promises” were made regarding the great medical benefits Southern Bell provided to its active and retired employees when I first became an employee of “Ma Bell.” Any changes made in my medical plan coverage have all been legal and were all covered in the “fine print.” 

What I am complaining about is the merciless greed AT&T and Caremark engages in at the beginning of each new calendar year.  I just refilled my first prescriptions for the year.  A medicine that will cost approximately seventy-six dollars in co-pay for a three-month’s supply will cost two hundred and seventy dollars.  After meeting my deductible the drug will once again revert to a lesser co-pay. Last week there was a seven hundred and sixty-two dollar charge for other drugs. Apparently their goal is to eat up my deductible as fast as they can. It was the same last year, and I hoped there would be a change.  I should have complained last year, but I just let it go.  This year I will not let it go, so I am going to complain.

I have to meet my deductible so whether it is taken all at once via the drug plan or taken throughout the year only impacts my cash flow for January and February.  It is a hardship but fortunately I can manage it. s I am sure there are those who cannot, and it will be a hardship for them. I will not argue the merits of AT&T’s and CVS Caremark’s contracts since I am sure it is all covered in the “fine print.”

The ObamaCare medical bill that has been under consideration has “fine print” and may still be under consideration in some format that would fundamentally change America’s health care system—not for the good of everyone but ultimately for the detriment of all.  Heck, the present bill contains “large print” that no one has read or even fully understands much less what’s detailed in the “small print.”  I feel confident that my drug coverage will escalate in future years if I am still able to keep my AT&T medical benefits. I am sure the “fine print” has or soon will have provisions to “dump” me from coverage.

It is past time for those who believe in the Constitution of the United States of America to take a stand and defend our great country against those who seek to, “Fundamentally Change America.”  Let there be such an outcry that those who are seeking to change our country by destroying its Constitution will “craw” back under the rocks from which they came.”

Continue to call and write your Senators and Representative and make your demands known; they work for us, we do not work for them.  In this election year and in all future election years let’s vote out of office any elected official that has not demonstrated a love for their country by defending its Constitution. We can overturn the destructive agendas and laws that have been enacted by our Socialist, Fascist and Progressive extremists who have only sought power and money for their needs, rather than what’s good for the country and for the individual.

“If you will not fight for your country you will lose both your country and your freedom.”  Now is not the time to bury your head in the sand and pretend that there is no problem or that you will not be affected.  Are you willing to fight or will you “stay on the plantation with Uncle Tom” as the old saying goes? This applies to everyone who believes in God and the morality He demands.

Read the “fine print.  Let’s make the sacrifices required to protect our children and grandchildren.  Do it now!!!!! 

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This entry was posted on 27. January 2010 at 23:14 and is filed under Political. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.