> "I don't want to sound like I'm attacking you, but the fact that you were able to start a company without providing health insurance or a salary sufficient to

> "I don't want to sound like I'm attacking you, but the fact that you were able to start a company without providing health insurance or a salary sufficient to buy it individually is itself a problem." There is a big difference between financial compensation and offering health insurance for entrepreneurs. Startups frequently pay low salaries (ones that may not support the high cost of health insurance) in return for an equity stake that offers the possibility of a high future payout. You cannot similarly defer health care benefits: when cash is tight, you either offer costly benefits at the expense of other priorities or leave your employees without health insurance. This tradeoff is not present if the insurance system isn't employer-based. Of course this is only part of the explanation for how our system impedes entrepreneurship. One way or another, we're all paying an absurd amount just to keep us (somewhat) healthy. http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2011/02/chart-of-the-day-9.html http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2011/02...