Should the necessity of Health coverage be a responsibilty of employers? Should they have to bear the costs incurred in maintaining and managing Health coverage plans?

Would it not be more beneficial to remove this burden from business and place it on the shoulders of the individual through a private account? Could not that money be better spent by business in strengthening the company itself, or better wages for employees. Even the hiring of more people with the newly freed money.

Can effective and mutually benefical health plans be created from pools of individuals and even lead to the creation of new industries and employment opportunities?


[B]Should Health coverage be maintained by business or the individual? [/B]

The market will decide this question. Companies need talent to grow and to survive. Benefits are part of the compensation package they can offer their employees. If they stop providing these benefits, it's like cutting pay. How will they compete with other companies who want those workers?

It's the same for benefits for gay "partners". If companies want and value those employees (and some industries have very high representations), it would be a competitive disadvantage not for them to provide them.

The question itself implies a misunderstanding of the economics of the situation.



You think companies bear these costs without subtracting directly from what they are willing to pay their employees? There is no free lunch...every dollar a company spends on maintaining health insurance for its employees is one less dollar they will spend on salary. The total pie that they commit to employee compensation doesn't change. So, whether a company provides this insurance, or not...the individual still bears the cost. The difference is that companies have the ability to negotiate better rates, thereby usually getting that insurance at a lower cost than an individual could. But the individual, in either case, still bears the full cost.

This is how it actually started. Companies began to offer health benefits as a perk to hire people and over the years it has evolved into "the way it is". I have recently benn looking into starting my own business and this is one of the things I find a discouragement.

I agree with hugo here. This to me is an unnecessary burden to place on employers and is one that doesn't seem to really benefit the employee.
First you are often trapped by good benefits. My wife was stuck with a bad job that was basically destroying her health because the bennies were unmatched anywhere. During the whole pregnancy for my son my total out of pocket cost was 10$. The company that offered these bennies has just recently changed its policy because of the cost.
She turned down several better job offers basically because we needed to retain the bennies.
Second the company will always choose the cheaper plan to save a few bucks. Several times have I seen my bennies replaced with a less than satisfactory version to save the company money. I can't actually blame them as they are not in the health care business.

The costs of maintaining the benefits in terms of having to create a whole department to manage the bennies PLUS the cost of hiring people who have the experience to effectively manage them in relation to law and maintaining costs is a huge burden--especially on small businesses.

I won't claim to have much sympathy for the Microsoft, Ford size type companies over much. However SMBs are the lifeblood of the American economy and will eventually produce the next Microsoft--which in turn spawns a whole new industry plus the industries that survive by meeting the needs of the new industry.
Sure I dislike Microsoft but the amount of new businesses and jobs and profit as a whole created just by the effect of Microsoft would be a truly staggering number.

I would also imagine that by removing responsibility of providing health coverage from business you would also create a whole new range of business opportunities and careers.

Should Health coverage be maintained by business or the individual?

I would like to see employer’s get out of the health insurance business outright. In my dream world businesses can, if they choose, allot a certain dollar amount to an employee’s MSA type account and then the employee can add their own funds if necessary. The individual will shop for the health insurance plan that meets their needs. This would force the Aetna’s of the nation to compete for everyone’s business not just the corporations. I don't think that the employee's, who already have health insurance, are going to be keen on losing their employer's contribution so for me having them contribute into a MSA type account alleviates that "sense" of losing a benefit. Right now individuals and small businesses are left out of the market because the insurance companies don't need their business.

Employees don't have to opt in to the Health Insurance plans offerred by employers. Do employers have to offer healthcare plans? Only if they want to keep good employees. For example, I opt out of my employer plan, because I can get cheaper benifits b/c I am a student at a State University.

A Coop system of Healthcare coverage, like this one: http://www.ghc.org/about_gh/co-op_overview/index.jhtml is a perfectly reasonable alternative that is beginning to make an impact. I'd say there is an available market for anyone who wants to do the legwork to start one.

As has been stated before, the market will decide. It sure would be a great way to give some competition to the insurance companies! Despite poor healthcare, and all of this conversation, Insurance industry profits have been soaring. A coop is a great way to give insurance companies some competition, and lift the "insurance burden" from employers.

Well , the market may decide but as long as certain large companies like Walmart provide health insurance paid by the employees which they cannot afford with their low wages the playing field is not level. When they are sick either the hospital or the government pays the cost. We all pay that cost in higher taxes and health costs.Perhaps the answer is that all employers should pay for health insurance from a single pool-like workers comp.

This comment captured my beliefs about the issue. I suspect that the prevailing oligopolism in the current market for health insurance hinders its efficiency. Therefore, I would support government measures to discourage collectivist buying.