Health Insurance

Health insurance reform is a bane to everybody. Small businessmen and the self employed see it as yet another regulation by government. Businessmen who insure themselves and their employees see it as a not insignificant expense. Health insurance costs begin at around $6.00 per hour worked. In some circumstances it is as much as $15.00 per man-hour. Many employees forgo health insurance because the premium cost is often half or more of their take home pay.

Some claim the employer fails to pay more out of greed, but in most cases, he is paying about as much in wages and benefits as he can afford. The simple fact is his goods and services could become priced out of the market. It is one of the biggest reasons why we are losing manufacturing and even service sector jobs to overseas providers. They work with a lower wage and benefit cost.  We decry the use of slave like and child labor, but we continue to buy the products they produce.


The problem is that we argue for "free trade" but honestly we want it by our rules. What are our rules?  First we have a minimum wage. How do you compete with the minimum wage. I think everyone believes the minimum wage we have here is too low to live even frugally on. This is not an argument against the minimum wage, honestly I think it is too low. This said, it is way higher than the international market we are competing with.


Most wage earners who make near the minimum are uninsured or using public means such as Medicaid, CHiP, and Medicare.  When we move people off the public assistance insurance source we send them onto the public hospital route. This is unpaid care. What do I mean hospital route? It means using the ER as their primary care provider. In some cases hospitals provide this care by certifying the patient as needy. In other cases the patient is given care (some places give full care and others give only immediate necessary care) and the patient is billed and bullied for payment they cannot or will not pay for. This makes a mess of our emergency care system and is much more expensive than routine primary care.

I wish I knew how to make this happen short of large-scale government support or worse so government mandates that raise the expense he pays for labor (through insurance premium cost) with marginal if existent increases in income.

If anyone has a suggestion, it would make for great discussion even if it gets shot down by the realities of it all. I am looking for your suggestions or comments.