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As someone who has served in senior management roles in larger companies and who now runs my own business, I can provide some insight on what you've posted.

1. Many industries in our modern economy simply don't operate in a business environment that supports this antiquated model with a staff of full-time employees engaged in predictable work flows. I would suspect that this would apply to the advertising business.

2. As an employer, one of the biggest challenges I've faced is that most employees have no idea how much it actually costs to employ them. Take someone who gets paid an annual salary of $80,000 to work in a consulting business (like advertising), for example.
- The employer is immediately on the hook for another $6,540 in Federal payroll taxes, including $4,960 for Social Security (6.2%), $1,160 for Medicare (1.45%), and $420 in Federal unemployment insurance (6% of the first $7,000 in earnings).
- Now take the figure cited in another FR article this morning for medical insurance; if this employee has an employer-paid family insurance plan, that's another $20,000 out of my pocket for this employee.
- Now add in the cost of administering all this crap. If I have to pay $100,000 in overhead costs (between dedicated staff and my own time) to administer this, and I have ten employees, then that's another $10,000 per employee in administrative costs that would be almost non-existent if I didn't have these employees.

3. Add the numbers up. In this example, it costs more than $116,000 to pay an employee $80,000. And that doesn't even take into account any other discretionary benefits that I may offer to the employees.

And keep in mind that the medical insurance coverage is typically the least predictable overhead cost the employer incurs. These plans are priced annually, the premiums escalate dramatically every year, and there's simply no way in hell for an employer to do any long-term business planning based on these unknown costs in the future.

This is EXACTLY why I hire only part-time staff and 1099 contractors in my line of work.

P.S. -- How does your acquaintance's dog have health insurance, if she does not?

Alberta’s Child, I’m not arguing one thing you wrote. And I was going to give a lengthy response and a question or two, but I’m not.

Everything you wrote can be solved with two words .... Free Market

If you want to provide some type of benefit for your employees, etc go ahead. You want to provide them health insurance, go ahead. You don’t want to, don’t. And I’m not being condescending when I say that. I’m not a class warfare person. You own the business, run it the way you want. Your business plan will either succeed or fail, right? And that is what it’s all about. And that’s good.

But, I think everything you documented, is born in some form or fashion from government intervention and businesses being forced to do this or that. And then, the businesses are able to go to Congress, get a carve out specific to them, that isn’t allowed to be used by the individual. And it doesn’t just go for the private sector.