Max KennerlyJul 18, 2023

America's healthcare system is both an obvious enormous drain on our economy, with far higher per capita costs than anyone else, and a less obvious enormous drain on our economy because every employer, including the self-employed, has to spend a ton of time administering healthcare coverage.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/18/opinion/universal-health-care.html

Opinion | Fixing Health Care Starts With the Already Insured

Guaranteed basic coverage will protect those who have insurance from uncertainty.

The New York Times
Show threadEva ChandaJul 18, 2023
@maxkennerly
As a Canadian, I'm always appalled by the bureaucratic nightmares, waste, and duplication of the US healthcare system. Single-payer seems much more efficient to me. I've also never understood why healthcare is paid for by employers in the US, though I can see why employers like it: it prevents people from quitting because they don't want to lose coverage.
Show threadMatt Waters

@echanda @maxkennerly It goes back to wage controls on World War 2, where employers offered benefits instead.

Somehow health insurance simply stayed untaxed income and so it's significantly subsidized (40+% in states with income tax for incomes below payroll tax maximum).

Jul 18, 2023 at 8:22pmWeb
Show threadEva ChandaJul 21, 2023
@mwaters @maxkennerly
Interesting, thanx. I should have known that cornerstone of bootstrap capitalism—subsidies—was involved somehow!