'Dollar Days' unsustainable

“Dollar Days” are winding down.
That’s not a reference to the retail technique of having $1 sale items. Instead, it refers to the archaic and no-longer-affordable practice of providing some government employees with health insurance for just $1 per year.
Dunkirk still has that practice in place, but it’s not really possible to justify when the monthly cost of an employee’s health insurance tops $900.
The $1 a year practice has also been included in Jay Schools’ contracts with administrators. But the school board has made it clear that it wants to phase out the perk as contracts expire and are renewed. It’s a matter of simple equity and fairness at a time when school corporation employees are being asked to shoulder more and more of the burden of health insurance expenses.
And that shift of the burden toward employees isn’t limited to Jay Schools. That’s been the trend all across America as health care premiums have continued to ratchet up over the past 30 years.
Those who lose the $1 a year perk will, undoubtedly, be unhappy about the situation. But, let’s face it, they’re not likely to get much sympathy from the rest of us, particularly when the rest of us are taxpayers who have been providing the benefit.
No one knows with any great certainty how the Affordable Care Act is going to sort itself out over the next few months. But one thing is clear: The days when employees had to kick in just $1 per year for coverage are fading fast. —J.R.[[In-content Ad]]