Beginning of the End?

We have been suggesting that Affordable Healthcare Act (Obamacare) will become the default or even go-to plan for many businesses, governments or employers … and Chicago’s decision is the beginning of total socialization of medical care in the USA.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel plans to start reducing health insurance coverage next year for more than 30,000 retired city workers and begin shifting them to President Barack Obama’s new federal system.

The move is aimed at saving the city money and comes as the Emanuel administration has been trying to wrangle significant pension cost concessions from employee unions.

The details are found in a letter the city plans to send to retirees this week.

Still getting health insurance: Police officers and firefighters who retired between the ages of 55 and 64 and are not yet eligible for Medicare but whose coverage is guaranteed under union contracts, as well as workers who retired before August 1989 and are protected by a legal settlement.

Cut out as of Jan. 1 will be the rest. That’s when the city will begin a three-year phase out of the coverage, according to the letter signed by Comptroller Amer Ahmad. During that period, premiums, deductibles and benefits could change, the letter states.

Once the phase-out is complete, those retired workers would have to pay for their own health insurance or get subsidizes under the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. The city-subsidized coverage is particularly important to retired workers who aren’t yet eligible for Medicare, as opposed to those 65 or older who use the subsidies for Medicare supplemental insurance.