Albert,
re: "There is no such thing as "an employer" passing on select benefits to an employee. I believe that would be a form of slavery. In my "basic capitalism" employer competes for the qualified work force by offering compensation in exchange for services. Benefits are part of that overall compensation package."
OK. Why is health insurance a "free benefit"? Why not food, clothing, housing, auto insurance, homeowners insurance, diapers, ...? Which one of these free market product categories would not be over priced and lower quality if the majority of the population didn't have to review the product, and make a collective decision on value/cost? I'll answer for you, they would all offer more limited choices at higher prices. If housing were a "free" employee benefit, what would houses look like?
The whole insurance /medical treatment system has been skewed because people think it's free. They are willing to settle for less than what they pay for. "Bad service, what do you expect, it doesn't cost anything".
The consumer is a wonderful filter that clears out the BS. When you take the end user filter out of the decision making process, you get a mess.
Why is it, Albert? Why is medical insurance our worst consumer product? It's free to most people, shouldn't everybody be happy?
John |
