Welcome Obama-care : California.

My Union said we have nothing to worry about Obama- care.

Are you ready? Obama-Care ( Affordable Care Act ) is coming to California near you. So far it's gotten a mixed press . How it's going to affect you is a problem . It's a problem if your employer provides you with negotiable benefits package . Already Unions whom I belong to tell that we don't have anything to worry about . However a cautionary note about negotiable benefits : Some labor unions that enthusiastically backed President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul are now frustrated and angry, fearful it will jeopardize benefits for millions of members.Union leaders warn that unless the problem is fixed, there could be consequences for Democrats facing re-election next year.“It makes an untruth out of what the president said — that if you like your insurance, you could keep it,” said Joe Hansen, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. “That is not going to be true for millions of workers now.”

[...] “We’re concerned that employers will be increasingly tempted to drop coverage through our plans and let our members fend for themselves on the health exchanges,” said David Treanor, director of health care initiatives at the Operating Engineers union. California and Oregon are poised to be the first to implement Obamacare, and will be hawkishly watched by both sides of the political spectrum. Labor union leaders are complaining they are getting shortchanged by the Affordable Care Act, or "Obamacare." They are asking the White House to allow the health care exchange subsidies to be used for their worker's health care plans, which could dramatically increase the cost of the ACA.  Let's read what we know now about it. Yesterday, Covered California—the name given to the healthcare exchange created pursuant to the Affordable Care Act that will serve the largest population of insured citizens in the nation—released the premium rates submitted by participating health insurance companies for the three health insurance program categories (bronze, silver and gold) established by the Affordable Care Act, along with the catastrophic policy created for and available to those under the age of 30.Keep in mind that the entire idea of the exchanges is to require health insurance companies to compete openly with one another by offering identical coverage programs in the three created classes—each offering insurance coverage that actually delivers meaningful protection to customers—and then openly disclosing the price each insurance company will charge for that policy. The announced rates are far below estimates and the average numbers show that a middle-aged Californian could pay anywhere from $40-$300 per month. The wide range includes the variety of benefits offered combined with the use of federal subsidies to pay for healthcare. Thus, shoppers can clearly see which company has the best price on an apples-to-apples basis. I am however dumbfounded by the level of willful ignorance by supposedly principled liberals and progressives which cheers the fact that Obamacare subjugated the entire populace to private health insurers which are merely Wall Street firms in nurses outfits.Bob Laszewski, a health care industry consultant, said the real fear among unions is that “a lot of these labor contracts are very expensive, and now employers are going to have an alternative to very expensive labor health benefits.” “If the workers can get benefits that are as good through Obamacare in the exchanges, then why do you need the union?” Laszewski said.