Kurt Ullman wrote in
:

In article ,
Jim Yanik wrote:


Gee, you 'd better tell that to GM, Chrysler, Ford, etc. They
missed that. Only Ford managed to dump off the healthcare to the
UAW in time.

Many companies -are- profitable while paying part or all of their
employees healthcare.

Many are but most likely would be more so if they could get rid of
the HC. Or how many small businesses might grow, except for the HC
mess. Make it defined payment instead of defined benefit like with
pensions. You get X amount of money and you buy insurance with it.


But the "Big Three" have been MISMANAGED.Unions are complicit in
that.
But a big part of what they mismanaged was the HC side. I have
always thought it was sorta hypocritical for the unions to suggest the
management was at fault, especially when a part of their mismanagement
was how badly they managed the unions.



It's also considered part of the employee's compensation for work
performed.

So what? Pay me directly and let me buy my own.

the original argument was that companies could get better deals thru
group discounts.However,that may not hold true anymore.
Hasn't for quite awhile, and I am not sure it ever really did. For
awhile it was less expensive for the big boys to increase HC benefits
(especially the non-existant co-pays and low premiums. Another reason
I thought the Big Three were a little hypocritical when their earlier
decisions came back to bite them on the nether regions.


employers are NOT "subsidizing" healthcare.
It's part of the employee's compensation,that they EARNED.
It's no freebie.
Of course they are. Someone else pays 80% of something that you
use,
then it is subidised. Or at least paid for by someone else, my
definition of subsidy.


No,because your work earned it.(paid for it)
If your work did not earn enough to pay for it and still allow the company
to make a profit,they would not employ you,aside from bad management and
outside influence like unions.

the gov't counts employer-paid healthcare as income,and taxes it.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net