The Real Reason the U.S. Has Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance
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Re: The Real Reason the U.S. Has Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance
#2Explaining away US healthcare as an artifact of WWII by claiming European countries turned to nation health schemes because of economic ruins ignores one very important counterpoint: Canadian healthcare.
Canada had no wartime ruin, and indeed, excelled after the war by advances in industrialization from the demands of WWII-- much like the US. Actually, Canada got it's universal healthcare because of the efforts of Tommy Douglas and the CCF in Saskatchewan and an entire history of social democracy in Canada that's worth studying. Sufficient to say, I think the author needs to look deeper into the social fabric of American life to see the barriers to socialized healthcare.
Re: The Real Reason the U.S. Has Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance
#3Has there ever been an effort to ban employer sponsored health care? I bet it would be a much bigger issue for people if they were paying for it personally rather than having their employer shell out.
Re: The Real Reason the U.S. Has Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance
#4Explaining away US healthcare as an artifact of WWII by claiming European countries turned to nation health schemes because of economic ruins ignores one very important counterpoint: Canadian healthcare. Canada had no wartime ruin, and indeed, excelled after the war by advances in industrialization from the demands of WWII-- much like the US. Actually, Canada got it's universal healthcare because of the efforts of To…
Honest question. Did Canada have the same situation with a mandated pay-raise freeze and the end-run around that by companies in the form of company provided, tax-free, health care benefits? It seems, according to the article, that this is the base situation that entrenched company paid health plans in the first place and prevented Truman from getting traction with a national health plan.
Re: The Real Reason the U.S. Has Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance
#5To me it sounds like slavery.
I mean, if you get old and/or sick you are stuck with your employer. How crazy is this?
Re: The Real Reason the U.S. Has Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance
#6To me it sounds like slavery. I mean, if you get old and/or sick you are stuck with your employer. How crazy is this?
This is primarily a problem for people who are older but not yet eligible for Medicare (government health care that becomes available at age 65). Basically, don't lose your job between age 50 and 65, unless you have literally hundreds of thousands of dollars saved just to pay for huge individual market insurance premiums.
Re: The Real Reason the U.S. Has Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance
#7Has there ever been an effort to ban employer sponsored health care? I bet it would be a much bigger issue for people if they were paying for it personally rather than having their employer shell out.
It's still a huge issue, given that even if you have insurance, out of pocket costs can reach 12k per family before it kicks in to 100%. Healthcare is about to be 1/5 of the U.S. economy (compared to ~10-12% elsewhere)
Re: The Real Reason the U.S. Has Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance
#8Has there ever been an effort to ban employer sponsored health care? I bet it would be a much bigger issue for people if they were paying for it personally rather than having their employer shell out.
For me, that was the most egregious part of Adorable Care Act: I have to tie medical insurance to my employer.
And there was a failed effort to repeal the ACA.
It drives me crazy. I can choose auto insurance, life insurance, home insurance, disability insurance all independently from other decisions, but health is this special category that is legally linked to my employer.
Re: The Real Reason the U.S. Has Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance
#9Has there ever been an effort to ban employer sponsored health care? I bet it would be a much bigger issue for people if they were paying for it personally rather than having their employer shell out.
Obamacare went in the other direction, penalizing employers for not providing insurance (and for providing insurance that doesn't meet certain standards).
Some of the Republican proposals this year had provisions for matching the employer tax break on health insurance, but none of them got rid of it (a less drastic step than banning employer provided insurance would be to only give individuals tax deductions for insurance).
Re: The Real Reason the U.S. Has Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance
#10Has there ever been an effort to ban employer sponsored health care? I bet it would be a much bigger issue for people if they were paying for it personally rather than having their employer shell out.
For me, that was the most egregious part of Adorable Care Act: I have to tie medical insurance to my employer. And there was a failed effort to repeal the ACA. It drives me crazy. I can choose auto insurance, life insurance, home insurance, disability insurance all independently from other decisions, but health is this special category that is legally linked to my employer.
Isn't it messier than that? I'm pretty sure you could decline your employer provided coverage and buy a plan from an ACA marketplace.
It's just that it wouldn't make sense to do that at an additional cost of thousands of dollars.