This is ONE (of the many) things that confuses me about US Health insurance - why its tied to a job. Surely it'd be better, more efficient and more logical for it to be tied to the individual. After all they pay for it so where is the job involved? Can any of my American readers explain it to me?
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Health care began getting tied to jobs in the 1940s when government regulation began forcing salary caps. (https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/the-statist-origins-of-modern-health-insurance/ ) That's part of the problem, as is the fact that health insurance is milked for every little thing and not just for the BIG things. Like, we have auto insurance in case someone steals our car or we're hit by a reckless driver / treefall, whatever. We don't use it for oil changes and tire patches. In the US, though, insurance is hit for every little thing -- not just the big and unpredictable, like injuries and surgeries, but routine wellness checks and the like.
So, after the regulation came in... companies started to give health insurance as a 'benefit' to attract workers as they couldn't just increase the salary? Or am I misunderstanding you?
It's explained in more detail in that article, but yes. Health insurance was used to entice the best workers at a time when the usual compensation (salaries) were being squelched. Not sure when the abuse of it began, though. I didn't enter the workforce until the 2000s when it was already the default payment for everything unless you didn't have it. There are some histories out there I've been meaning to read, because it's a terrible mess. Right now I'm fighting a $1000 bill for routine labs because of some policy squabble between Bluecross Blueshield and Medicare, which was foisted on me after the end-stage renal diagnosis. People would probably have more faith in UHA in America if Medicare and the Veterans Administration medical system weren't such trainwrecks.
From what I can see from the outside its a complete mess (being polite) that *really* needs addressing...... I guess that'll happen at some point. Maybe when a few more CEO's don't make it to the office.........
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