That Onion Sure Stinks
Emily Guendelsberger doesn't have health insurance, so she will be wholloped with medical bills associated with the surgery she needs to fix her leg, which was broken in last Saturday night's stampede of marauding teens down Broad St.
That Onion Sure Stinks
Ronnie Polaneczky, Daily News Columnist
Emily Guendelsberger doesn't have health insurance, so she will be wholloped with medical bills associated with the surgery she needs to fix her leg, which was broken in last Saturday night's stampede of marauding teens down Broad St.
Guendelsberger is the local arts and entertainment editor for The Onion, the satirical news and entertainment site, and she is not covered under its health-care plan. My colleague Dan Gross asked an Onion spokeswoman if the company would help Guendelsberger with her bills anyway.
Here was the cagey answer.
"We can't divulge any details surrounding the compensation or benefits packages of our employees," Onion spokeswoman Anne Finn told Dan. "We will say that when we heard about the events that transpired, we were shocked and saddened. Our hearts immediately went out to Emily and we wanted to leave the option for people to help her."
Emily decided not to have health insurance. I guess that she negotiated a contract with The Onion and optioned out of the health care they provided or she decided the employee payment was too high or she is an independent contractor and is not eligible. In the City of Philadelphia there are all kinds of affordable catastrophic health care plans available. Any good insurance broker could help with that. Independent contractors often take the chance of not getting insurance and they wind up dependent on charity. If Emily can get people to donate and pay for her surgery good for her. She should however think about getting insurance in the future or get a full time job that includes a policy as part of the negotiated compensation package. Charity should be for those people who have no other option. Emily seems like she should know better and took a chance that backfired. I pay for my isurance and my grown children pay for their's even when they were between jobs.— mikefitz- Dr Truth have you ever heard of a term called "coverage limits", let me repeat that again for you incase you don't know what it is "coverage limits" Well sir please provide some links to plans Emily can purchase in the future that have "coverage limits" above $10,000 a year and will cost not less than a few hundred a month. Come on lets see if DrTruth is also DrConsumer!— CouncilOfChumps
Comment removed.- I had a friend in a somewhat similar situation. He injured himself in an extreme sport and had no insurance, even though his contract job paid enough for him to afford it. He had $50k in hospital bills, all when he could have gotten a basic policy for $200/month. Luckily the injury was on video, and he got a paid TV interview that took care of most of the bill.— MattPSU
- How about this. They didn't offer her health insurance? Then don't take the job. No money to buy her own? Get a second job. Move in with someone and split the bills, cancel the cable channel. Give up the IPhone. Get a real job. Let me audit her expenses and see if she could have afforded insurance. My guess - yes.— dontavoidtheobvious
- When Obamba have his health care speech to the nation he had in the audience with his wife a young guy whose mother had tragiclly died of cancer. She didn't have health insurance. The reason was she quit the insurance plan so she could use the money to pay for her son's college. How about you borrow the college money or he borrows it, and you keep your health insurance?? Like every other working class person, and those who came before us.— dontavoidtheobvious
- Anyone check to see the name of the Publisher of the Onion in Philadelphia?— quietnow
- "A Philadelphia-edition of the satirical newspaper The Onion will hit the streets starting Thursday after the launch of a partnership with Philadelphia Media Network.
Under the partnership agreement, The Onion and its sister publication, A.V. Club magazine, maintain rights over their content, while Philadelphia Media Network has assumed business management responsibilities, including advertising sales, printing and distribution.
Philadelphia Media Network owns and publishes the Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News and philly.com."
— bird11 - "Dr Truth have you ever heard of a term called "coverage limits", let me repeat that again for you incase you don't know what it is "coverage limits" Well sir please provide some links to plans Emily can purchase in the future that have "coverage limits" above $10,000 a year and will cost not less than a few hundred a month."
Healthcare reform removed lifetime and annual limits. So your argument fails.— DrTruth - Good point Black Label. Guess who will be paying the hospital bills of most of these weekend shooting victims? The taxpayers!!!
Yet because Emily isn't a welfare recipient she will be stuck with the bills! Doesn't seem fair.— gone with the wind - Open carry would have taken care of the situation without involving the criminal media, cops, doctors, insurance co's, etc. It's a shame when somebody says she shouldn't be walking in that neighborhood late at night without anybody really disputing it. I wonder why? What is the common denominator in all the "flash mob" attacks? It is never printed, so you have to be a racist to figure out the answer. I wonder how this nationwide problem is whitey's fault. Give it time, some sociologist will find a way to excuse this behavior and blame the corporations, the system, everything but the culprits. Can't wait...— phillyjeffsr
- why the hell would i help this woman? is someone going to help me?— bobbyd24
- Is everybody in this city a victim? How about we get rid of this victim mentality and start taking responsibility for our actions? So, this lady got a leg broken by a mob of thugs. Go catch the thugs and force them to pay for what they did. If they are juveniles, hand the bill to their parents. Somethng tells me that forcing some of these irresponsible parents for the damages their babies cause will go a long way into teaching them to curb their kids' behavior.— DonQ
- @bobbyd24 - "why the hell would i help this woman? is someone going to help me?"....don't know. are you a liberal newspaper person shirking responsibility for your life, too?? If not, probably nobody.— bird11
- Anybody wondering if she could get cheap insurance - I did this on-line for a 27 y.o. female smoker and rates range from $58-$132 a month. Co-pay and deductible vary
https://www.uhone.com/Quote/PlansList.aspx— bird11
When my phone rings here at the Daily News, nine times out of ten the caller begins the conversation with, “Yeah, so what happened was…”.
Because this is Philly, the caller doesn’t say, “My name is Bob” – or Mary – “and I wonder if I could have a moment of your time?” Philadelphians are too direct for that. They just say, “Yeah, so what happened was…”, and then tumble into a tale they think oughta be shared with a wider audience. I love getting these calls (even the ones where it becomes clear, after 30 seconds, where the caller sowed the seeds of his own misery), because they give me chance to connect with fellow citizens in a way that no other job allows. Well, okay, no other job for which I’m remotely qualified.
That’s why my blog is titled “So What Happened Was…”. To me, it’s the quintessentially Philly way of saying, “Once upon a time.” When I hear it, I know a good story is coming. And I can’t wait to see how it turns out.
Ronnie Polaneczky has been an award-winning columnist for The Philadelphia Daily News since 1999, offering a front-steps perspective on every aspect of city life, from the sublime to the stupid. In her past life, she was the editor-in-chief of Atlantic City Magazine, associate editor at Philadelphia Magazine and a fulltime freelancer published in Ladies Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, Redbook, Reader's Digest, Men's Health, MarieClaire and others. She lives with her husband, daughter and various pets in the city's Fairmount section, where she dreams of one day singing The National Anthem at an Eagles game. In addition to her column and blog, you can enjoy Ronnie's musings in podcast form here.
Read more from Ronnie Polaneczky at Earth to Philly, the Daily News blog on anything and everything "Green
Reach Ronnie at polaner@phillynews.com.
