Health Insurance 101
Angela Braly loves America. She is living proof in these tough times of how alive the American Dream truly is. Born a year prior to the assassination of JFK in Dallas, Texas, she obviously took her education seriously at a very early age because there is no greater path to prosperity, than knowledge. She earned her BA at Texas Tech University and later went on to receive her law degree at JD, Southern Methodist University. She is currently married, the mother of three children and a proud Republican Party Affiliate. Best of all, Angela Braly earns 188,461.53 cents a week. This, of course, is before taxes though still a bit more than the waitresses working at Pat’s Pizza, in Sanford, Maine.
Sanford Maine is a quiet little town. Unemployment reached a peak of 11.7% at the close of 2009 but is still growing. As of July 2007, roughly 11,000 people resided in Sanford, Maine. Goodall Hospital is in Sanford, Maine and offers state of the art rooms and exceptional care. There is also a movie theatre in Sanford, Maine, called Smittys Cinema and inside each theatre, movie goers will find plush seats surrounding dining room tables, menu’s and full waitress service if they would like to have dinner with their movie, offering quite a unique experience. The median income of Sanford, Maine as recently as 2008 was between 37 and 38,000 dollars a year, or roughly 730.36 cents a week. This is, of course, before taxes and would require the weekly salary of 258 fulltime Sanford employee’s to match Angela Bralys weekly paycheck.
I’m not sure Angela Braly has ever seen Goodall Hospital or taken in a movie at Smitty’s Cinema. She would be surprised at how marvelous the veal parmigiana is at Pat’s Pizza. It may not be the five star rated restaurant the Braly family is probably accustomed to, but the atmosphere is scrumptious and the waitresses are extremely attentive. I would like to invite Angela Braly to Sanford, Maine. There are so many friendly people in Sanford. I’m sure there are still a few left who would like to thank her for the assist her company has provided in their time of need.
Angela Braly is, after all, the CEO of The Wellpoint Corporation of which Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maine is a subsidiary of. Angela Braly is currently suing the State of Maine for failure to approve an 18.5% rate hike for its subscribers. Anthem originally requested a 23% rate hike, in spite of five straight years of double-digit rate hikes. I have to question why the state of Maine would object to such a rate hike. After all, the economy continues to defy the expert predictions of recovery, adding to the growing number of unemployed through out Maine as well as the rest of the country. This can only translate into a decrease in subscribers for such mammoth companies as Wellpoint and its subsidiary, Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Maine. Perhaps the Wellpoint Board of Trustee’s ought to consider a few budget cuts in order to preserve desired profits. Maybe they could stop the nearly 10 million annually spent on lobbying. Or cut out the 188,461.53 cents a week salary of Angela Braly. There’s an unemployment office in Sanford, Maine. Once she has filled out all the paperwork, we can take in a movie at Smitty’s, or, just kick attend and enjoy the food at Pat’s Pizza. Knowing only too well the trauma associated with job loss and the subsequent loss of health insurance going along with it, I can even assure Ms. Braly it won’t cost her a dime. I’d be more than happy to pay for the whole thing.