Why should “health insurance” be connected to employment?
That’s just an artifact of union bargaining during WW2 to circumvent wartime wage controls.
Exactly, and this is the problem that needs to be solved, because the days of steady employment are coming to an end, due to globalization and technological advances.
I don’t think it has to be. But I won’t work for a company that doesn’t provide it as part of the compensation package.
People who get benefits through their employer don’t really understand the full cost of their health care. They focus on their premiums and out of pocket but corporations subsidize much of that. The formula I used at work for “fringe benefits” is 28% of the employees salary. So for somebody making $60,000 a year, we are putting $16,800 towards their health care and that is not including the premiums and deductibles that the employee is paying. All in, the total cost of health care for a typical employee is around $2,500/mo.