Finding affordable health care in America is getting harder. Increasingly, workers are finding themselves on the receiving end from their employers who are reducing the services provided or passing on the increases. My work health care plan was, until the latter part of 2006, great but now the benefits it supplied have been reduced. Out of the blue the company decided to change their health care provider because it was costing them too much.

The excuse was that they were trying to ensure the new package would help everyone in the company. Many people I've spoken to are happy with the new insurance and that I am just as well provided for. The new insurance company may be cheaper for the company but it isn't for me because to have my husband and daughter in the plan costs double what it did with the previous provider. This means, that for my company to provide a health plan to all of the employees, it is no longer affordable for us.

From what I have seen, this new company we are with is not in the same league as the old one even though I still seem to have a reasonably good plan. For many of us, higher out of pocket expenses and less in our paychecks is the only result of this pursuit of an affordable health care plan. I am sure of this because just over 2 years ago when I had my little boy, the stay in hospital was completely covered by my insurance policy. Today, if I had a baby, it would cost me around four thousand dollars for my expenses.

But, this doesn't include the additional amounts taken out of my paycheck, only the hospital costs. There is obviously a market for these schemes because more and more affordable health care options are becoming available. Those less fortunate can now get free health care more readily and workers without health care are able to join special schemes. Whilst I appreciate these programs because they are saving lives and helping people to grow stronger and healthier, some people take advantage of them.

Perhaps some form of means testing is needed for people so that only genuine cases have the benefit of affordable health care. I get annoyed because it's the upright taxpayer who has to finance these schemes for the needy and not the state. Financially speaking, my company saw the real advantage to this switch and some of the employees. It worked out just fine for my employers when they switched providers but many of us are paying the price. Providing health care which is affordable for Americans needs to be dealt with sooner rather than later.