Okay, so now we have all been promised government mandated healthcare, for which we will all pay in some manner. I get that. Except — no, not really. All me and half the rest of country understands is that sometime in the next year or two, we’ll all be able to go to the doctor and we won’t go broke if we find out we, God forbid, have some awful life-debilitating disease or need an exorbitantly out-of-this-world operation.
So far, the one thing I understand is that if I work for a small company of fewer than 25 employees, my employer may be eligible for tax credits in order to help me and my co-workers buy the insurance we want. Or, as an employee at a large company with 200 or more employees, I must be enrolled in some health insurance plan that I can opt out of, but if I choose to do that, I still must have insurance coverage that I will need to purchase on my own. However, if I choose to stay with the coverage my employer offers, I had better be happy with it, as my employer will choose the coverage I get. Okay, that sounds reasonable, and frankly, I am not sure how that is any different than how it works now. Don’t most employees use what their employer offers, even if the coverage isn’t that great? We’re lucky; Ash‘s employer offers insurance to us and it is a fantastic plan. Will that continue under the new Health Coverage Act?
And that is the crux of the problem for a large portion of us “out here.” There are so many explanations and NOT ONE WHIT of it makes a whole lot of sense to the average people who feel as though they are standing in the middle of a dirt field with no planting machinery but a bucket of seeds after the government dropped us off and said “Okay, you go grow your own food now. We’ve given you the seeds, the rest is up to you.”
Maybe once the presidential election is over next fall, someone will finally give an explanation of what to expect, and more to the point, what it’s going to cost each of us to stay healthy.
THE EXTRA REACHES A MAJOR MILESTONE
In May of this year, The FM Extra, now known commonly as THE EXTRA, celebrated our 10th year in publication. The Extra has turned another corner, so to speak, and now has legal status in the state of Minnesota. We are proud to announce The Extra, a weekly publication based out of Moorhead, has met the requirements to become a legal newspaper. What does this mean? With legal status, our Extra publication is eligible to bid and print official notices, minutes for government agencies and cities and counties from anywhere in the county — that includes private legal notices as well as estate and probate, mortgage foreclosures, certificates of assumed names and whatever else is considered “legal.”
Anyone inside the publication business may understand what a gain this is for a small, hometown paper to reach. The Extra started out as a “Wow! Wouldn’t it be great!” American dream, and seeing it grow as one would a prized first child has been a glorious, gut-wrenching, hair-pulling, exhausting experience. Yet with each goal met over the years, I’m very proud to have been a part of the team that somehow pulled it together and made it happen. My only regret is the “Captain” of our small ship is no longer on board. No one put more into steering The Extra through the deep waters and storms than did John Kolness, the original publisher and owner of The Extra.
Today the Extra and its sister newspapers are owned by New Century Press Publications, a multi-media corporation that houses its main headquarters in Iowa. With NCP’s main lady, Lisa Miller, at the helm in Iowa guiding our Moorhead office’s Managing Editor, Tammy Finney, we are able to celebrate our new status as a legal paper in Minnesota.
The Extra was created for Moorhead and the surrounding communities, and over the years we’ve morphed into a more regional paper, reaching all the way up through the northern valley of North Dakota to Grand Forks/East Grand Forks. However, I have never made any bones about where my heart is, and that’s right here in the Fargo/Moorhead area. So thank you to all of our loyal and dedicated readers who continue to pick up The Extra week after week. Without them, advertising revenue couldn’t be secured. Our dedicated readers and advertisers are what it’s all about!
Questions and comments can be sent to: Soo Asheim at: sooasheim@aol.com or to Tammy Finney at: tfinney@ncppub.com All editorial letters must be signed and please include a phone number for verification (phone numbers will not be published).