| MaPetite: First off you are looking at pre-tax dollars vs post tax dollars so your numers are off by a third each direction... Really when you look at post tax dollars and because health insurance is a non-taxable item it's actually only costing you realistically $12.50 instead of $19 when you get it. Then the other cost was the $17 you don't get which is really $11. So now instead of talking about $36 we are really talking about $23.50 which in my mind is pretty cheap for what you are getting back for your insurance.
As for being descriminated against: look at it this way, someone who is married with one kid generally pays insurance as if he/she had four kids. The company does this to keep costs balanced. Some have a Family plan, some have a you plus one (your spouse) but once you throw in kids you are paying alot more, and more then if they just paid three times what you personaly are paying as a single. This is because insurance companies know that a single generally costs them less on the average then any one member of a large family. Also, just because someone can take their spouses insurance doesn't mean you are being descriminated against, when they take thier spouses insurance they are still paying for it one way or the other, and you have just as much right to take outside health insurance as they do. You don't need to buy your spouses, you can buy your own. This year if you buy your own health insurance it will be %30 tax deductable, in 2002 it will be 50%, and by 2003 all of laws will be in place that private health insurance is 100% pre-tax just as if through your work.
In other words you have as many rights as a married person, they just have chosen to have a situation that has an option yours doesn't. You are no more descriminated against then you would be by an apartment complex not charging you less for being a single in your apartment rather then a couple who could split the cost.
mrmisguided: If you are honestly looking for tax breaks get a business of your own. When you have your own business, even part time on the side, you qualify for 35 seperate tax codes that slaves *cough* I mean employees do not qualify for. This country was built on people working for themselves, it was a very bad side effect of the industrial revolution that we ever moved away from being paid based on our efforts to being paid based on our time. If you are unsure about how to get into business for yourself drop me an email, it's what I do, I help people get started in business for themselves in a way that makes sense rather then trying to be pioneers and lost.
gypsy@gypsy.org |
