COBRA is not a snake

Post-Vegas (where, yes, I did eventually give back all the money that I won), I returned home to multiple letters in the mail from my former employer. Unwinding an employment relationship is worse than getting a divorce. Letters about 401(k) plan rollovers, what to do with my life insurance, how to resolve other assorted things and three separate letters about my medical insurance.

Now here's a tip for the Obama Administration on healthcare reform--- one way to save money is to quit requiring employers to send all this medical insurance paperwork when someone leaves a job. Because, let's face it, in this economy people are leaving jobs left and right. We must have killed an entire forest just to send all these letters.

It's not Obama's fault. He inherited this mess. COBRA, the law that allows employees to continue their health insurance after leaving a company, has been around for ages. I like that they named it after a snake because so many people view their former employer as a predator that injected them with poison and made them bitter. It's a great reminder of that wonderful former relationship every time you see the word "COBRA" in your mailbox.

From a branding perspective, RATTLESNAKE might have been a better choice for the US market since cobras are not native to America. But it still works.

Anyway, today I have to sort out all of this mess which I anticipate will take more time than I'd like to devote to it. Like I said, my divorce was easier than this.