CityView Magazine

Start with Safety Haul out the holiday boxes … pick the perfect tree… PWC reminds you to make "safety first" part of your decorating tradition. • Make sure lights and decorations have the UL seal – and electrical decorations outdoors are labeled for outdoor use • Don't handle lights while they're plugged in • Don't string too many lights together or overload sockets • Never use frayed or damaged cords • Keep trees watered • Keep ladders away from power lines • Always unplug lights when you leave home or go to bed • Miniature lights are safer – and, they use less power For more safety tips, visit PWC's website. faypwc.com 10 | November/December • 2013 publisher's note How Obamacare May Steal Christmas I t's that time of year to give thanks for all our blessings. CityView had another great year, thanks to our advertisers and readers like you. We had a very successful inaugural Launch Party for our October special issue with over 300 people attending at Skyview on Hay on October 2nd. Thanks to all of the sponsors, patrons and readers for being supportive and attending this wonderful event. During the post-holiday season, after all the wonderful food we've consumed (sweet recipe ideas on page 19), our pocketbooks will be aching right along with our stomachs with changes in the health insurance laws. We at CityView are no exception due to the new Obamacare laws. My column is not political, just factual. I'd like to share with you the little known facts of our nation's new health insurance laws and how it has affected CityView and me. So, prop your feet up and indulge in a cigar from Anstead's (page 27), now that smoking doesn't matter in health insurance purchases and lend me your attention while I give you the Cliff's Notes version on Obamacare's effect on us. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) or Obamacare has a plethora of rhetoric from both sides of the political aisle. The people on the right are mainly against it because the left and Obama are for the plan. I was recently informed that my company health insurance plan (the one I provide for my employees) will not qualify as a legal plan under the new law beginning January 1, 2014. I was not on the plan because it was rated up in cost due to some health claims with our employees. Nothing major, but insurance companies for years rate a company based on past claims. I was able to get a Blue Cross individual policy for half the price the group plan would have cost me because, thank the good Lord, I was in excellent health. Now, here is the rub with Obamacare: My premium goes from $430 per month to $689 because I will be in a plan that takes all risk without questions. Therefore, the healthy have to pay for the sick. The company plan will go up drastically January 1st in order to conform to the new law. However, the employees will pay less money on the individual market with Obamacare that they are guaranteed to receive with no health questions or pre-existing conditions. Therefore, I am canceling the company plan and giving the employees a raise for the amount I normally pay for their coverage now. The only catch is they must pay the tax on that raise. Are you tracking with me? Perhaps to ease your mind off the changes in your healthcare plan, decorating for the Yuletide season (gain inspiration from our Living story on page 16) may be just what the doctor ordered…but I don't know how much he'll charge you. Here is the big deal with ACA. Young, healthy people that can't qualify for a government subsidy will be paying for older, less healthy people. Young people in North Carolina will be getting anywhere from a 100% to 300% increase in their individual policies. The fortunate ones now are the people in plans with 50 or more employees who President Obama exempted for another year from the new law. So, they keep their current plan under January 1, 2015. The bottom line is if you are healthy and have a basic plan and don't work for a company over 50 employees, then you are in for a rude awakening in the next few days when you get your notice from your carrier. So enjoy your time with your family at Thanksgiving and Christmas and may the Lord bless your time together. As for Obamacare, don't stress, its just money.

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