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sunshinesoprano -> RE: Should it be a law for employers to provide health insurance? (4/18/2008 12:51:08 PM)
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I don't think it would be a fix for employers to be required to provide it. For many years, they didn't, and people owned their own health care plans.
I quit my teaching job and considered taking a job without insurance, so I looked into trying to get an individual plan. It would have cost me over $300/mo or more just for myself because of my pre-existing asthma to get it, and even then I would have to endure the waiting period before they'd pay, which wasn't an option with the meds I needed. Considering that the compensation would NOT make up for this, I looked elsewhere for employment and now work for one of the largest insurance companies in the world, and have a great benefit package, thank God.
The problem is that insurance is a money-maker. Companies are NOT going to make policies affordable to the average consumer because they don't have to. They make enough money off the large businesses. They charge rediculous fees to phsyician's offices because they know they can get it. Capitalism gone bad, I say.
And, the sad part, is that most of the people who NEED the insurance, are those who most often cannot afford it because they have a low-paying job with a smaller company.
Having said that: there are BENEFITS for an employer to provide health benefits, mostly productivity. If an employee knows they can go visit the doctor for a copay rather than their whole paycheck, in some cases, they're more likely to get care and miss less work. That's better for everyone involved.
Many companies, like the one I work for, also offer additional programs through the healthcare plans such as chronic illness management, weight management, mental health assistance, etc. Yeah, we're a huge company and can afford it, no question, but I'm much more likely to go get myself taken care of now because I know I won't be shelling out $300 bucks for a doctor to prescribe an antibiotic and tell me I have bronchitis or something.
It's a delicate decision and while people should be accountable for their own health, we must be realistic and understand that it's simply not affordable. I know many people who aren't driving expensive cars or paying mortgages who barely get by and if they have to go to the doctor, another bill goes unpaid.
That's wrong. And frankly, I feel like a society where the poor, ill, children, and old aren't cared for (and our society is getting older and poorer by the minute) isn't a very Christian one. There are all sorts of reasons why people are poor, and I'm not talking about people who smoke/drink/gamble/shop their money away. I'm talking dirt poor people who work hard and perhaps don't have the education/resources/abilities to get a job where they can either get benefits or make enough to pay for their own.
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