re: Health Insurance tied to employment really is a terrible system

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Perhaps someone who is a business accountant could tell us.

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Not 100% sure, but I think both are straight up expenses. However, there are other quirks of the tax code that would incentivize insurance over wages:

1) Payroll taxes. In order to pay most employees higher wages, you have to pay more in employer matching for SS and Medicare, as well as FUTA and SUTA. Plus workers comp (at least in Mississippi) is a percentage of payroll. So it's cheaper for the employer to give you $X in insurance premiums than it is to give you $X in wages.

2) Insurance benefits aren't income, so for the worker, it's better to get $X in insurance than $X - a massive tax bite, and then try to buy insurance with what's left.

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2) Insurance benefits aren't income

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Except for the benevolent job creators who have so-called "cadillac" plans that big evil obamdummy is going to steal, err ... tax now.



In reality these cadillac "health plans" are just another way to shield income from taxation.

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With the employer mandate, this system is here to stay, and it will continue to be a net negative for the country. The scary part is that I do not see how we can change it. It's too engrained into business functions.

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Really? I see just the opposite. Companies are already reducing the insurance coverage for their employees and will continue to do so. Individuals already are bundling together outside the work place to obtain affordable insurance coverage. I expect policies will be obtained outside the work place for most.

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Companies are already reducing the insurance coverage for their employees and will continue to do so.

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If this isn't met with a salary increase, it's not a good thing.

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God forbid you should have a job and pay into a system to reap a benefit like health insurance. Everybody should have all their shite free. Oh wait, most do!

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Nobody should get anything for free. But I think the entire system would be better, and cheaper, if every individual person searched and bought health plans on their own.