[DiogenesLamp]

My recollection is that some of this is the consequence of government efforts at wage controls or tax bracket creep. Companies pursued this idea of offering "other" compensation to get around these government created issues.

It's been awhile since I looked into this, but my recollection is that the government was the entity that started this "health insurance" ball rolling.

[CodeToad]

“Companies pursued this idea of offering “other” compensation to get around these government created issues.”

Yes, that was also part of it. Remember when JFK took office the high income tax bracket was 90%, but with all kinds of crazy deductions to reduce that amount.