Here is why I said that.
My company, and many of the major companies in the area (one likes to make big machines painted green) have stated internally that they want to have socialized medicine. Because that will allow them to cut the insurance bill by shifting cost to the tax payers.
My company specifically has the current healthcare insurance costs listed as why they feel not as competitive in the US market. The per person overhead is higher than in Europe (we are also about twice as a productive, which gives our US plants a net gain).
If a system of socialized medicine is in place, the amount of money a large corporation pays on health care will go down. The taxes on the workers will go up, but that is a net good.
I have talked with quite a few other companies, who have similar views. They view socialized medicine as the cheaper option.
True dat. It is because of the accepted level of expectation that the American employer commonly offers health insurance as a benefit. The only upside to this Obamacare thingy is that it could have a side effect of de-coupling the health-care benefit from the compensation package.
This de-coupling was part of the debate during the Hillary-care push in the early 90's. The theory was that the individual will get the tax deduction for providing his own healthcare. And, insurance companies would have to start competing for the individual's purchase rather than for a group at a time.
“I have talked with quite a few other companies, who have similar views. They view socialized medicine as the cheaper option.”
That does not make them socialists, that makes them businessmen who do not view the provision of bear-hug government-approved health insurance as part of their core expertise.
What they are saying is healthcare should not be the responsibility of the employer. They are right. If that means the people who vote for socialized medicine get to experience it (even if some are their employees) so be it.
Why should your employer ensure you have health care? Isn’t that your responsibility?