We Care How You Care

Many years ago, my late mother became a resident of a long-term care facility.  While it was hours away from where I lived, over three years I still spent dozens of hours visiting her.

More recently, my wife's parents have also been, let's say, voluntarily relegated to a similar long-term care facility.  This time, it's quite near where I live, and in a short time I've already spent many hours there.

These care facility visits have made me, in my own mind, enough of an expert to know a few things that work and don't work -- not for the residents, but for the loved ones who visit them.

First, we want to have enough caretakers there to help.  Finding employees to work at these facilities wasn't easy before the COVID-19 pandemic, and it's even harder now.  But figure it out -- no resident should have to wait too long for help the basic activities of daily living.

Next, we want everyone to show kindness.  Of course, there will be days that workers there are stressed, and short of time, and basically don't want to be there.  Let's just keep that to a minimum, and be as pleasant as possible to those who have no choice but to be there.

Finally, an overlooked on one for a financial-focused person like me -- let's have staff that understands the health care provider / insurance administrative labyrinth.  By this I mean a staff that can understand and explain it, and doesn't allow it (or them) to make obscene profits off of the elderly.

I have more knowledge about how medical providers and insurers operate than most, and I still struggle to understand the rules and costs.  The residents of care facilities are already losing their independence, let's not let them unnecessarily lose their money.

Hard(ly) Work

I've posted entries in the past about people who don't work, and live of my taxes in the form of government payments.  I'm not linking to them here; you can either assume it wasn't altogether flattering, or find the 'work' label on the blog and check it out for yourself.

In the past couple of years, I haven't changed my mind about that, but I'm more disgusted about another form of not working.  By this, I mean people who talk a lot about how hard they work, but who don't really work that hard.

I started to notice this more after being self-employed for a while.  Many people with whom I interact seem to believe the scheduling flexibility that comes with self-employment is also a ticket to working less than their mandated 40 hour work-week.

In truth, while the W-2 employee is working an 8 hour day, they generally aren't going farther than that over the course of a year.  And as one who worked that life for many years, I also know that there is plenty of time for chit-chat, personal calls, and now more often, social media time.  The 8 hour work day or 40 hour work week for most (not all) people is actually a lot less than that, and I'm not even counting the 3 weeks or more of annual paid time off.

Meanwhile, self-employed folks on the pathway to success are usually working at least several hours a week in the evening and/or the weekend.  There may be time off every day, with no time off any day.  I grew up on a livestock farm, and it's the same deal, except a that's a helluva lot more and harder work.

The only self-employed people I know who consistently work less than 40 hours a week are ones who are failing, or have already succeeded.  There is no in-between -- you aren't going to be a success in self-employment unless you are working harder and smarter than the typical 40 hours a week.

The crux of all this is, when someone feels the need to mention how hard they've been working at their job, I don't really want to hear it.  Chances are, they're embellishing to begin with.  Chances are, they take more vacation than I do.  Chance are, they aren't working at their occupation harder than I am at mine.

If they think they're working hard now, they should try running their own business.

I (Religiously) Object

Last week, there were a couple of Supreme Court rulings of major interest.  The most interesting, and polarizing, one was Burwell v. Hobby Lobby.

In brief (pun intended), the court struck down the contraceptive coverage mandate under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  It further ruled that closely held for-profit corporations could be exempt from a law they religiously object to if there is a less restrictive means of furthering the law's interest.

As expected, this ruling sent progressives into a tizzy.  The basic themes were 1) corporations are not people, and 2) now every employer will be able exempt itself from federal laws by saying they have a religious objection.

Anyone who looks back at this blog knows that I generally side with the socially liberal viewpoint.  I even posted an entry about the self-righteousness of some groups opposing the mandate.  And yes, it does seem crazy that 5 Catholic males on a court could make far-reaching decisions that affect only women.  (On second thought, not only does that seem crazy, it IS crazy.)

However, anyone who looks back at this blog will also know that I generally side with fiscally conservative capitalism.  While there's nothing specifically fiscally conservative about this ruling, generally speaking, I don't believe that employers should be federally mandated to provide medical coverage of any kind.

So, I'm having a hard time getting worked up about the Burwell ruling.  While I disagree with it, I also think the one absolute problem with the ACA is the employer mandate.  While everything else about the ACA may turn out just fine, including the individual mandate, the employer mandate is dumb.

Regardless of whether it's the 'job-killer' conservatives want to believe it is, employers (and other related third-parties) should not be in the health care business.  The ACA should mandate that employers NOT provide coverage, instead of the other way around.  Employers will then have to compete for quality employees solely on the basis of pay.  (I've just solved the minimum wage issue, too!)

Let the people be responsible for getting their own coverage, as with other forms of insurance.  If that sounds like it discriminates against the poor, that's why we have Medicaid.  (I know, I know, this attitude means taxpayers like me might be paying for more indigent medical care.  But on balance, I think it would still be no worse, and probably better, than it is now.)

Suffice it to say, I think the Burwell ruling is illogical, and anti-female, but I don't think it's the end of the republic.  Corporations surely aren't people, but even corporations should have some protections from the law, e.g. tort reform.  Too bad Hobby Lobby didn't focus on that.

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do (Even With An Escort)

Excluding part-time or temporary work, I've only worked at three organizations.  Two of them were 10+ years runs, with the most recent run ending at 5 years.

In each case, I was fortunate enough to meet good people, and gain professional experience.  I was also fortunate enough to leave on my own terms, and of my own choosing (although I probably stayed longer than I should have).

Unfortunately, leaving a job isn't usually done without issues.  So often, long-term employees are let go with no warning, and given an unceremonious escort out the door, as if they were a criminal.  Thanks for all those years of service!

In those involuntary work separations, plus many voluntary separations, it's also common for former colleagues to wrongly accuse the former employee of doing something inappropriate.  It's a great way for intellectually dishonest, poor performers to try and cover for their own ineptitude.

For some former employers and employees, I guess breaking up is hard to do.