The jobs trap
Sunday, June 14 2009
Timothy Noah has a provocative article on Slate titled The Paradox of Health Reform, pointing out that health care reform might help keep alive something we’re all better off without:
In fact, employer-based health insurance is dying. A troublesome irony is that health care reform may spare this awkward and inegalitarian system the death it richly deserves.
[...]
If the White House and Congress were to do nothing, it’s reasonable to conclude that employers would continue their gradual retreat from health insurance, which they are not required by law to provide.
I fully support any reform plan that ends the tax break for employer-based health insurance, with the caveat that it has to provide another, better way for me to obtain insurance. So long as I can get insurance, good riddance to employer-based insurance – but it’s more important to have a better way to buy insurance than it is to get rid of employer-based insurance.
Of course, the problem is that for someone like me right now, there’s no other way to get insured. I have to find a job that has benefits, and keep that job, and pay COBRA when I lose that job. It’s a trap – and a particularly cruel one.
[Update: Sorry about the ad. It came in with the quote from Slate, but has now been removed. I missed it because I block most Javascript on my machine. As always, I receive no revenue at all from advertising.]
I could not have said it any better than that.
Peter – In that case I’m tempted to retract the post, just to maintain our perfect record of total disagreement.
I am an employer and the cost of providing health care is ridiculous. I only keep it so that I can personally get health care for my family.
I am a physician. I hate the multitude of different plans with different rules. I have to follow a million set of rules and it is impossible to do so. Patients do not want to pay for their deductible on their new high deductible HSA plans and my A/R has quadrupled. I spend all day authorizing medicines I prescribe and getting permission for testing.
I am a patient. It is impossible to manage the multitude of bills that come to my house from the doctors and others. I cannot figure out what has and has not been paid. Do they participate? Do I need a referral?
What is actually covered?
I am a parent of a child with cancer. She will never qualify for any health plans with the exception of employer sponsored plans. If they stop providing them, then who will insure her? She is only 12 and now is messed up for life for this unless they fix things.