HCR and PPACA

In May, I left my previous job as an Executive Assistant for a property management company and started a job as Marketing Assistant at a corporate benefits consulting firm. This job, while extremely challenging and difficult has really been a great opportunity. Not only because its a great job and all that, but I now actually understand medical. dental, vision, life, disability, LTC, and pretty much any other benefit that a company would like to offer for their company. Also, I also have the ability to actually understand what the hell is happening with Health Care Reform and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

You know, that thing that most people have just stuck to calling "Obamacare." 

Honestly, I'm absolutely sick of hearing people trying to talk about it like they actually know what is happening. This morning we spent just under three hours with one of our lawyers and he went pretty in detail about what to expect the next two years and what the regulations actually are and what really is going to happen. It was one of the most exhausting meetings I've been in just for the sheer volume of information. Even though I still have a bit of a headache from everything that's going to happen, I'm really glad we had that meeting. 

There is a large number of people that like to write articles about what you should expect in 2013 and 2014 with healthcare reform and I would say (at a rough estimate) 90% of these people are talking out of their ass. These people like to regurgitate the exact same non-information that has been presented over and over before. Very few of them have actually read PPACA or any of the announcements and rulings that have been made about it. We (meaning me and the company I work for) can't have such a luxury. We have to read this. We have to know exactly what is happening. We have to be able to advise our clients. And knowing as much as I do about the coming six years in healthcare really has me worried about the amount of misinformation out there about it. I'm really more concerned with the sheer amount of outright lies being told to the US public about what the ramifications will be. I'm concerned about the fact that people blindly read and watch these major news networks and accept their word as gospel when they don't have the slightest clue what is happening.

I'm not going to tell you all the caveats about HCR and PPACA for two simple reasons: 

1. Did I mention we were in a three hour meeting today discussing it and my head still hurts? Its complicated stuff.
2. I like my job

But I can tell you all this: Don't blindly accept that everyone's insurance rates are going to be rising exponentially and companies are going to start getting rid of benefits. That's not going to happen. Health care  will increase, but mostly due to the fact that there are going to be a lot of people that don't have insurance that now will and a lot of previous limits are no longer there. So there is a big risk that underwriters (the people that determine your rates) can't account for. 

If you would like more information about what's actually happening, I would suggest reading the actual bills. Anyone that says that this program is going to cripple the country or bankrupt the country obviously doesn't know anything about PPACA. I'd be more than happy to explain what is really happening with anyone that has questions, just obviously not in a blog post where you might be able to take it as legal counsel. If you're a business owner, I would suggest hiring someone in this business (a corporate benefits consulting firm) to help you navigate the next few years. Don't try to do it on your own.

(I do know of a great company that could help you all out...)

Success is the best revenge

Today, I'm going to be filling out all of my paperwork to graduate in May to receive my Associate's degree. I know that getting an Associate's degree isn't a huge deal to most people, but this is a huge accomplishment for me.

When I started taking classes last fall, I had already been out of school for three years. I can't even begin to tell you how many people told me that it was a waste of my time and my money to be going back to school when I had a full-time "real" job in an office. A lot of people told me that I wasn't going to actually get my degree. A lot of people said I wouldn't want to finish once I realized how much work it is. The few people that actually thought I would graduate all told me it would take me at least four years in order to get this degree that is supposed to be a two-year plan. All of these people were adamant that I already had a decent job so I shouldn't worry about going back to school. Why should I put myself through the stress of school when I don't need it and I won't finish it?

After checking and double checking and emailing advisers, I know that I will be graduating after working for two years. Knowing how I've proved everyone wrong and I will be graduating and I will have done this in two years and I haven't given up is probably more satisfying than actually getting this degree. Maybe not more satisfying, but at least equally satisfying. I love knowing that I have proved all of these people wrong. I love the fact that many of the people that tried to discourage me from going back to school are some of the same people that tried to belittle me throughout my time at my previous job. These were the same people that wanted to make me feel like I didn't mater and that I was going nowhere in life. I love that I'm proving all of these people wrong and I am doing something with my life.

In the fall I plan on transferring to UTD in order to start working on my Bachelor's degree. I'm fairly certain that even though I technically only have two years left until I get that degree, it will probably take me longer than two in order to graduate with that degree. I know that transferring from a two-year program at a community college to a four-year program at a university like UTD will be a major change. I know the classes I will take will be more intense and I probably wont be able to take as many classes as I have been. Getting my Bachelor's will by no means be an easy feat.

I'm perfectly okay with this. I've already proven so many people that doubted me wrong. And now I'm surrounded by friends and coworkers that actually have faith that I can and I will succeed. I know that although it will be a long process, I have the support I need.

I love seeing how things have changed in the past two years. I can finally see an end in sight to this endless school work.

Lucero - Goodbye Again

I know its been quite a while since my last "Music Monday" type post, so here's another song that is sure to be a nothing less than a way to make it through your Monday. Like most of the people that work Monday - Friday, I'm not a fan of Mondays. Since this is a short week and I'm really looking forward to the weeknd, I needed something to help me through today. So I've fallen back on one of my favorite bands, Lucero. With a mix of Lucero, Ryan Adams, Wilco, and American Aquarium, I think I might make it through this short week.

Revisiting PETA

In a post a little over a year ago, I wrote about how I dislike PETA I talked about how I dislike PETA and why. Now, I've been tasked with writing an essay over the objectification of women for my Mass Communications class and I really think that there is no single better way to prove that objectifying women does nothing good for your cause.

Yes, women (and men) are objectified throughout society. It happens in commercials for hair products, liquor, cars and beauty products. Women are shown as nothing more than a pretty face to endorse a product. I feel like the way PETA hides behind this facade that they're trying to raise awareness (and force everyone to live in the same lifestyle as they are) it is even more despicable. The more research I do in order to prove this point, the more disgusted I am with the entire organization.

As someone that was a vegetarian for a little over ten years and only recently started eating chicken because I was advised to do so by my doctor due to the lack of protein I was getting, I hate the fact that such a well known organization tries to force any lifestyle on people. The fact that PETA tries to guilt people into veganism is a terrible thing for society. The way they target young kids and teenagers with PETA2 is even more abhorrent. Even today, I feel like people should be able to eat what they like and live the life they want.

When I was a vegetarian I would always try to make sure that my personal choice did not affect those around me. PETA seems dead set on forcing their eating choice on everyone. Then trying to guilt you for doing something that they don't agree with. You know what I don't agree with? Objectifying women and sexualizing this matter of animal rights and marketing this to people everywhere and creating a separate part of your corporation that targets young people.

Celebrity Affairs

It seems everywhere I turn, I can't help but encounter news about a certain CIA Director's affair turned scandal. And you know what? I couldn't possibly care less about it.

Why are we so bombarded with "news" about the fact that this many, and any other powerful figure, has an affair? What does this matter? From the little bit that I've gathered about the man, he seems to be a hard working, dedicated man that did a great job while serving as a General and as the director of the CIA. You know what this story proves about him? He had the opportunity to have an affair with a woman that was writing a biography about him.

I'm going to guess if she's writing a book about him, they're going to spend a lot of time together. These two probably corresponded a lot. These two probably spent a long time talking and getting to know each other. What started out as a respect probably was easily turned into a school-girl-type crush. There was opportunity. So they started to have an affair. And now it seems this man's career is over? For having a consensual relationship with a woman? Really? This is news? The woman wasn't trying to extract military secrets out of him. They were just sleeping together.

Yes, if this affair happened while the Petraeus was in the military it would be a violation of the military code of conduct. But is having an affair illegal? No. Is this a terrible thing for his wife to be caught up in? Of course. But is this news? No. What happens in this man's personal life is not, by any standard, news.

And for that matter, I don't care about any actor, musician, politician, teacher, or street performer that has an affair with a consenting adult. Because that isn't news. News stations are so oblivious to real tragedies happening in the world but they can't miss a story about someone even remotely well known that was unfaithful. There are still thousands of people suffering from Hurricane Sandy yet they are almost nonexistent in the news. That news is so last week. There are millions suffering from violence, starvation, poor healthcare, lack of freedom and this is what is plastered all over every major news organization? There is a looming fiscal cliff, a war that might be ending soon, Guantanamo Bay still open, and a Congress that refuses to work together in our own country and this is what people want to focus on?

Maybe it isn't just politics that need to be revamped, maybe the priorities of Americans need to be changed if we want to see change within our country.

Home?

The holiday season is quickly approaching and it seems everyone in the office here is finalizing their plans for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Since this will be my first holiday season with this company, there have been a lot of people asking if I plan on going home this holiday season. Everyone seems a bit confused about the fact that I spend Thanksgiving with Austin's dad's side of the family and Christmas with his mom's side. 

Most people just seem a bit confused but don't really question why I don't go to see my parents seeing as I've only been here six months, but people do seem all so concerned with the fact that I'm not going "home" for the holidays. Everyone I meet also seems intent on asking me one of many standard questions, one being "Where are you from?" I grew up as a military child and never really lived anywhere long enough to put down roots. So what do I consider home? Is it the place I was born but don't remember home? Is home any of the various houses or military bases I lived on while growing up? I can't think of any place I lived while growing up that I felt at home. So I usually resort to just explaining that I grew up moving from place to place and I'm from all over, really. 

And maybe this is part of the reason that the entire concept of "home" seems alien to me, I never had one. It was a completely normal thing for me to pack up and leave after living in a place for only a few years. That's just what people do, right? I've moved so many times that I'm more efficient at packing and moving than most professional movers. I have a system. I have lists. I have spreadsheets. I can pack up a house (well, an apartment) in a matter of a few days. I can unpack and get everything hung up in about five or six hours. 

So even while I've been out of the situation that I never had a choice about moving, it still feel natural. I've lived in Texas for four years and when I moved in August it was the fourth time moving. It isn't necessarily that I disliked the places I was living, but it feels normal to move. And signing that mortgage promising to stay somewhere for 30 years? That was terrifying. I haven't even been alive that long and here I am promising to stay in one place for 30 years? It seems insane. 

But now that I own a house, does this make this city my home? Does this mean that I have really set down root? Does this mean I can answer that this is my home? I know that a house doesn't necessarily make a home, but does a having a mortgage make Dallas my home? If I move in five years to another city or state or country, does that mean I can answer that I'm from Dallas? I've never been able to give people a straight answer when they ask where I'm from, do I now have the answer? 

I had never realized how much of my identity was ingrained in the fact that I don't put down roots. Now that I am a homeowner, it seems like that part of who I am is a bit confused. Is Dallas my home? When people ask where I'm from, do I now have an answer? When people ask if I'll be going home for the holidays, do I just say that this is home? 

Who knew buying a house would cause such an identity crisis. 

The Big Day is Finally Here!!

I'm sure everyone is just as excited as I am that today is election day! No more of the constant political ads. No more of the continuous coverage of people in Ohio that still are undecided. No more talking about polls. It's done! It's over!

I don't know about the rest of you, but I am so glad that after tonight this will all be over. And as happy as I am that the election is finally here, I'm sure residents of any swing state are even more excited to have the 24/7 constant stream of political ads have finally come to an end. Tomorrow, for the first time in a very long time, residents of Colorado, Iowa, Ohio, Nevada, Wisconsin, Florida, Virginia and North Carolina will finally be able to watch television without the constant barrage of how such-and-such candidate is evil. Those people are such troopers to put up with such madness.

Before this is all said and done, go vote. Don't give me the same bullshit about how both candidates are evil and neither one is doing any good, make up your mind and vote. There is an independent on the ballot if you out-right refuse to make a real decision. Thousands of people have fought and died (and paid millions) for you to get out there and vote. There is no reason whatsoever to not cast your vote. You might live in a Republican state and be a Democrat and be thinking Why should I vote? My one vote doesn't matter? But your vote does matter. If everyone out there that said their vote didn't matter actually stood up and did something, things might actually change. A red state might turn blue. A blue state might turn red. No one will know because thousands of people don't vote because they don't feel like they matter.

If I can get in line at 7:00 in the morning surrounded by far too many brats running around an elementary school without coffee, you can make it to your polling station. If pregnant women are willing to stand in line for hours on end while also keeping watch on their toddler, you can vote. If a woman can stand in line for two hours with a four year old and a ten month old, you can vote. There are no excuses. This is one of the most basic responsibilities we have as an American. So go vote.

And then celebrate because its all finally over!!

Until the next election season, that is.