Being a civil servant and a conscientious bureaucrat, I feel I am a bit spoiled when it comes to entitlements like health care coverage. I complain about the quality and speed of reimbursement, at least in a strictly theoretical sense since I fortuneately have never had occasion to make a claim against my policy and that's mostly just commiseration with those who have been at the mercy of insurers' schedules. I realize, however, that most others would be happy and grateful to have a plan like this, subsidized by the US government--at least until last week.
I hope this new reform act, which also has a clever proviso that's not been talked up much that better defines SallieMae as a quasi-government agency and culls predatory lenders from the student loan process, guarantees at least these baseline standards for everyone. One special case, however, I do wonder about would apply to this corps of us diplomats, ambassadors of red tape--I get worn down by the fact that in this job, one is not allowed or encouraged many times to be smart or helpful but the exact opposite and most of the end-products of government work is of the same ilk. Before (at least, last week) one was allowed to drop this relatively gracious insurance package if due to what's called a "life event." If I became eligible for insurance under the German system--or chose to go route, I would be able to opt out. Am I still allowed to do so, and what of those already under German Krankenversicherung? Or does that now take a full and complete renunciation.
