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Universal Health

Dittohead not! said:
Requiring employers to provide health insurance for their employees constitutes a huge burden on employers, probably greater than any tax increase would be.

When I was involved in negotiating employment contracts for the school district, the biggest sticking point was not so much increases in pay as the increasing costs of health insurance. The district wanted a cap on benefits, and finally got one - $800 a month. That was enough, at that time (2003) to pay for medical, dental, and vision with no out of pocket. The last I heard, that cap had been negotiated up to $1,500, but it was no longer possible to avoid out of pocket costs. That's a public employer of course, and one with a history of superior fringe benefits. Now, a private employer must come up with hundreds of dollars per month on top of salaries, Workman's comp, social security and so on? No, getting the cost off of the backs of employers should be a priority.

But, no one seems to be going in that direction at all.
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Actually its not a huge burden on employers for the most part.. its how most people have insurance. In fact there is a big reason for it and its because its a great deal for the employer because of the tax breaks. HUGE. The problem with employer based healthcare is 1. Lack of portability.. lose your job, lose insurance.
2. and the employer is buying a one size fits none policy.
3. And there is less competition because insurance companies aren't competing for individuals.. they are competing for just a couple of big businesses.
 
jaeger19 said:
Actually its not a huge burden on employers for the most part.. its how most people have insurance. In fact there is a big reason for it and its because its a great deal for the employer because of the tax breaks. HUGE. The problem with employer based healthcare is 1. Lack of portability.. lose your job, lose insurance.
2. and the employer is buying a one size fits none policy.
3. And there is less competition because insurance companies aren't competing for individuals.. they are competing for just a couple of big businesses.
Click to expand...

If our school district's experience is any gauge, then health insurance is a huge burden on the employer.
And then, there is the lack of competition, the on size fits none, and the lack of portability.

So, there is plenty of reason to get the burden off of the employers.

Not that anyone is moving that direction, however.
 
Dittohead not! said:
If our school district's experience is any gauge, then health insurance is a huge burden on the employer.
And then, there is the lack of competition, the on size fits none, and the lack of portability.

So, there is plenty of reason to get the burden off of the employers.

Not that anyone is moving that direction, however.
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Yeah... well if we were to look at it from a school districts perspective your salary was a huge burden on the employer.. as was your retirement.. and crap coffee in the coffee machine. in most districts... anything that has to do with actually education or education is a "huge burden"... actually basically anything that does not have to do with football and basketball.

the fact is.. it was far cheaper for the district to offer you healthcare as compensation.. rather than offer you more salary to make up for the lack of healthcare.
 
jaeger19 said:
Yeah... well if we were to look at it from a school districts perspective your salary was a huge burden on the employer.. as was your retirement.. and crap coffee in the coffee machine. in most districts... anything that has to do with actually education or education is a "huge burden"... actually basically anything that does not have to do with football and basketball.

the fact is.. it was far cheaper for the district to offer you healthcare as compensation.. rather than offer you more salary to make up for the lack of healthcare.
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We paid for our own "crap coffee".
And, in a way is was cheaper for them to pay for health insurance. Had we bought our own, it would have been with after tax dollars. That's another thing that needs to change.
 
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