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I think what it comes down to for many people is that their employer covers their health insurance premiums, and they fear that they would actually have to pay

I think what it comes down to for many people is that their employer covers their health insurance premiums, and they fear that they would actually have to pay market value for health insurance if it were removed from the employer benefit umbrella. For a country that supposedly values small business, there are few things I could think of that would support small business more than public healthcare. Currently, large employers can get a group plan with very reasonable rates. Small employers are pretty much out of luck. It stands to reason to me that the bigger the pool, the more predictable and lower the costs. It's ridiculous to me that arbitrary groups of people can't go in on a health plan together. If a company with 50k employees can do it, why can't a city / state / random assortment of people?

wayoutthere 7y ago
That’s basically what the health exchanges are. Small businesses do not have to provide health insurance; and in most cases the exchanges provide more choice and lower cost than small businesses would have access to. But it does increase the gap in wages between the big corporates and small businesses. It’s very hard for small businesses to hire good talent when they can work in the corporate world for a higher salary plus benefits.
- war1025 7y ago
  As someone who works for a small company (~10-15 people), it's possible we're missing out on something obvious, but two years ago we (my employer) looked pretty extensively into our different options and settled on our current plan as the best option. I have a 1500/3000 family plan with a sticker price of $32,000 / year. I pay a third of that and my employer picks up the rest. I guess it's possible that this is about the going rate and most employers just pick up more of the cost than mine. Either way, that seems like an unsustainable amount of money to be paying each year.
  - wayoutthere 7y ago
    Yeah, a family plan at my employer (a big corporate) with the same limits is about $5000/yr to the employee. And that’s on top of the fact my salary is already 25-50% higher than it would be at a small business. The deck is seriously stacked against smaller employers right now.

wayoutthere 7y ago

That’s basically what the health exchanges are. Small businesses do not have to provide health insurance; and in most cases the exchanges provide more choice and lower cost than small businesses would have access to. But it does increase the gap in wages between the big corporates and small businesses. It’s very hard for small businesses to hire good talent when they can work in the corporate world for a higher salary plus benefits.

war1025 7y ago
As someone who works for a small company (~10-15 people), it's possible we're missing out on something obvious, but two years ago we (my employer) looked pretty extensively into our different options and settled on our current plan as the best option. I have a 1500/3000 family plan with a sticker price of $32,000 / year. I pay a third of that and my employer picks up the rest. I guess it's possible that this is about the going rate and most employers just pick up more of the cost than mine. Either way, that seems like an unsustainable amount of money to be paying each year.
- wayoutthere 7y ago
  Yeah, a family plan at my employer (a big corporate) with the same limits is about $5000/yr to the employee. And that’s on top of the fact my salary is already 25-50% higher than it would be at a small business. The deck is seriously stacked against smaller employers right now.