The song tells the story about a beggar that lost his job and strikes back at "the system" that contributed to his job loss.
They used to tell me I was building a dream
With peace and glory ahead
Why should I be standing in line
Just waiting for bread?
Once I built a railroad, I made it run
Made it race against time
Once I built a railroad, now it's done
Brother, can you spare a dime?
The tune was based on a Russian-Jewish lullaby sung by composer Jay Gorney's mother when he was a child.
Today we have our own challenge, except this one is about health insurance.
Obamacare has turned the health care, and health insurance system on its head. Premiums today are anything but affordable, except to the extremely poor or extremely wealthy.
Everyone else is screwed.
Yesterday I had a call from a woman who would be losing employer group health insurance at the end of the month. They had coverage through her husband's job but that is going away and he will become self employed.
The family of 5, all in good health, are looking for something affordable to replace their group health plan.
Accustomed to paying $200 per month for a good plan that included dental and vision, they needed to get an idea of what was available.
Projected income is over $100,000 so they will not qualify for a subsidy.
Sounds odd doesn't it?
The new system says if you earn less than $100,000 you are poor and need a government handout to afford your affordable health insurance plan.
To replace their existing health insurance plan they will need to come up with $1,115 per month, and that's just for the Gold health insurance plan.
Add another $100 for dental and vision.
That's disgusting.
Comparable coverage before Obamacare would be less than $500 per month.
Hey brother, can you spare a dime?
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