McDonald's Healthcare

I read an article in the Wall Street Journal (I would post the link, but it's not free) about McDonald's executives having to defend their healthcare options for their hourly chain workers.

Rundown:
Assumes $8/Hour @v40 hours/Week
Employee Cost
$710 ($27.31/Check)
Annual Benefit Cap
$2000
Pre Tax % of Income (Cap as % of Income)
4.3% (12%)
After Federal Tax % of Income (Cap as % of Income)
4.9% (13.7%)

How does McDonald's justify having employees pay $710 annually for just $2000 of medical coverage? That's 1 trip to the emergency room. I just had an appendectomy and I know $2000 doesn't cover it. The cheapest corporate healthcare plans McDonald's offers cost $682 & $920 and have no annual cap. Only 10% of hourly workers hit the annual limit and the insurance company keeps the rest of the premiums. The insurance company gets away this cap thanks to McDonald's. This is not health insurance, this is effectively payment $710 to go to the doctor and get some medication. If anyone is really sick they are screwed. Under the new healthcare law the annual cap should be $750K but that was waived for McDonald's because the company said they would drop insurance for their hourly workers. Sen Kay Bailey Hutchinson of Texas defended McDonald's.

I ran some numbers:
If 250K workers participate
$178M in Revenue
10% hit the cap + 2% to account for other coverage
$60M in expenses
$118M Rough Gross Margin, 66%

If 100K workers participate
$71M in Revenue
10% hit the cap + 2% to account for other coverage
$20M in expenses
$51M Rough Gross Margin, 72%

This is what's wrong with this country. McDonald's is large enough that they could push on a health insurance company to get a more favorable deal, however the corporation doesn't want to incur anymore costs for people they could really care less about because they know they can easily replace them as this country moves towards producing more and more uneducated children.

This is why a public option or healthcare co-ops would work. If the working poor, which is what you are when you have a healthcare limit of $2000, could at least pool their money then it could be used to provide healthcare to those who need it rather than go to corporate profits. I'm not against corporate profits, except when it comes to health insurance companies.

Michael Moore Interview on The Diane Rehm Show

Eversince I saw Capitalism: A Love Story, Michael Moore's relevance has become that much more connected with my current state of mindframe plus the political climate concerning healthcare bill being passed in a few days.

DOWNLOAD INTERVIEW

Skewed View of Abortion in the Black Community

I disagree that this is a widespread racial agenda. I have more of a problem with the percentage of children born outside of marriage than anything else. 71.6% of births to Black women in the US are to unwed mothers according to the CDC. This woman said more than 18 million Black children have been aborted and that the Black population could be 59 million strong. Really? Why would that be beneficial? Not in voting power, most Black people don't vote. Maybe in terms of a couple congressman, but at what cost?

What is most likely to happen to a child born to a young, undereducated, not well off woman? The prospects are not positive. It's not like all the Black children born are taken care of the way they should be. There are too many Black women having kids who have no business doing so.

Is there some type of racial agenda? I'm sure some do have an agenda to get more Black women to have abortions, but not enough to be of concern.

I believe this woman's argument is terribly flawed, she said an aborted child cannot rise educationally or economically. Maybe if young single women consistently did a good job of raising their children this would be a valid argument. But then I suspect there wouldn't be a disproportionate percentage of Black women having abortions.

Health: What Your Unrine is Telling You

Since yesterday I wanted to post this but never got around to it until now. On the Rachael Ray Show (PAUSE!!) she had a Gastroenterologist by the name of Dr. Anish Sheth. He had a very good info session about exactly what your body via your urine is trying to tell you. I decided to find this video and encourage as many views.
Check it out: What Your Pee Is Telling You

Joe Lieberman Shut Down on the Senate Floor

Sen Joe Lieberman, the 1 person most responsible for screwing up the Senate Healthcare Bill, was not granted more time to speak which is apparently customary on the Senate floor. Freshman Senator Al Franken said nope... There is no official word if this is the beginning of the Democrat's retaliation, either way he deserves it.

Lieberman 3 months was ok with allowing the public to buy into medicare at age 55 instead of age 65. Then last week he changed his mind. Everyone had agreed and the bill was pretty much done, then this little piece of shit changed his mind. He sighted the enthusiasm of liberals as his reasoning for changing his position. Joe Lieberman is a douchebag, he got reelected as an Independent which is not a problem. But then he held the Democrats hostage by stating that he wouldn't vote with them unless he could keep his chairmanship, something he's not entitled to as he left the party. Now he has his chairmanship and he is pulling this shit? If I lived in Connecticut I would try and get him impeached. As an Independent I don't think this is how he should be acting, I don't really like the deal cutting to begin with but if you are going to do it you can't renig...

Healthcare stocks have doubled recently... Thanks Joe, that means healthcare costs are going to continue to rise. Someone should take him out behind the capital and beat his ass.

Lincoln University Imposing Fitness Standards to Graduate

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/11/30/lincoln.fitness.overweight/index.html

Lincoln University, in Pennsylvania not Missouri is requiring students who have a Body Mass Index (BMI) at 30 or higher to take a physical fitness course that meets for 3 hours a week and complete the course in order to graduate. A 3 time honor student wrote an editorial wondering why all students are not required to take the course. She has a "slightly" high BMI as she put it and is required to take the class. I like the idea.

Should a university take this kind of step? Seeing as Lincoln is an HBCU it's not surprising. HBCUs take steps to put students on what they perceive to be the right path i.e. visitation hours, curfews or no visitation at all, limited coed dorms, etc.

The article states 12 to 15 students will need to take the course in January. 620 students have tested out or taken the course with 80 remaining to be tested. The article didn't specify but I think those numbers are for the first class (entered Fall 2006) to fall under the requirement.