tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8713689133160480763.post3196488466891625103..comments2024-01-27T10:07:09.125-07:00Comments on Along the Gradyent: Obama's Non-Alternative AlternativesAlong the Gradyenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05425166035931796723noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8713689133160480763.post-7157806049167074662013-11-25T06:01:43.364-07:002013-11-25T06:01:43.364-07:00I have a friend who is an appraiser. He appraises ...I have a friend who is an appraiser. He appraises about to foreclosed upon properties for Fannie Mae. Because I wish to short sale the same property, he is naturally on the "other side". But I respect him, and he respects me, and to date he has always given me my sales price because he knows I do my best to get top dollar for his client (as opposed to some short sale freaks who try and siphon off the properties to their "investor" clients My friend is Type 2 Diabetic. For years, he has been unable to get health insurance, having to instead, get his supplies mail order from Canada. But he has always paid for health insurance for his wife and two almost adult children--about $500 a month. He is a life long Republican who voted for Obama in 2008. This past Friday, he appraised a property of mine in the trendy South Loop area. His story is as follows. The cost of insurance for the three members of his family went up by $300 a month. The cost of his health insurance added another $500 a month--a total increase of $800 a month. HIs solution. Pay the extra money for his family, and pay the $500 penalty and keep buying his supplies for $250 a month.. Not that hard a choice. Given that this gentleman represents a segment of the population that was to have benefitted from the (not so) Affordable Care Act, this does not auger well. Thus, while I have personally benefitted from the change (I have already made eight appointments with NU Medical Faculty Foundation doctors for after the first of the year) I by contrast may be the only guy in Chicago who has benefitted from the change in the law.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com