This is a great illustration, and I would even argue the BEST illustration–brought to my attention by my good friend, JohnnyB–of what’s wrong with the current Health Care System, how it got there, and who’s actually (shockingly enough) coming up with the most radical (and arguably the most logical) approaches to solving said system. My favorite excerpt:
…[E]verything people dislike about our system results from the tax break for employer coverage. It makes costs rise, since people are less careful when they’re not paying out of pocket. It means people often lose their insurance when they switch jobs. And it keeps a lot of people–those who don’t have employers who provide coverage–from having much access to health insurance.
It’s always amazing to me how so many want us to learn from our past and figure out the “how did we get here” when discussing public policy…except for Health Care for some reason. In the case of a flawed public (tax) policy towards Health Care, many instead want to look outward and say: “Hey everyone else is doing it this other way.”
It’s really very simple: We do not have a true market-driven system if the end-user, the consumer, is not involved in the decision-making process. As soon as we give that a try, we’ll see if an ACTUAL market-driven system works.
The lesson to take from this? Everyone needs to figure out a way to write off their individual Health Insurance. Start a business, somehow, sell Amway if you have to, start a non-profit, whatever it takes, but don’t depend on your employer for your Health Insurance, and don’t let 60-year-old tragically flawed tax policies keep you from managing your own health costs and risks.
AND DO THIS WHILE YOU’RE HEALTHY, so that you NEVER have to make a job decision based on benefits.
If you have questions about taxes, call Earl, if it’s the Health Insurance you’re looking for, well you know by now who to call.