Why Universal Health Insurance, like Social Security, is good for

[KlatooBNikto]

small businesses.As a small businessman myself, I have seen th ehalth insurance premiums for my workers double in the last five years.It is expected to get worse. Part of the problem is that with private health insurance plans, the available pool of the insured is so fragemented and each pool is so isolated and small, the risks are high for the insurer.In insurance, everyone knows that as the risk is spread among a lot of clienets, the premiums can be reduced and made more economical. This cannot happen the way our system works now.As our population ages and the insurance companies compete for the business of younger clients, the pools that contain this aging population will have to pay a great deal more to get insurance of any kind.

In Europe, where there is just about universal health insurance coverage, businesses benefit by having the health insurance costs borne by the tax paying public.It is no longer a burden on the employer who can concentrate on his business without worrying about being able to attract good people.I like to think of health insurance as part of the infrastructure we need to build to attract and hold businesses.Otherwise, what is a basic right for everyone and an investment in our future, is degraded into a profit making machine for a few.

[izzie]

1. I do not know why we are fighting it.

We just have to look at the records of these countries that have it.This buying up of the non-profit hospitals has been a sin. I wonder when people will wake up to understand that the govt. does some thing better than for profit corp. and it is better for you to control some things as a voter in a place and not some rich stock holder holding the rains. This is half Iraq problems. Every thing has been sold off to US corp. Water and the whole back bone and it is what they wish to do in this country. If you do not believe me just look at what has happen to the Quartermaster corp in the army.We could go on about water in some places in this country etc. Our lights were controlled for a reason. Look at what the FCC is doing. If this keeps going on every cent you make some corp will have control over it and what you are paid and what you will pay.

[billyskank]

2. But..but..but..

that's SOCIALISED MEDICINE!

[KlatooBNikto]

3. If I as a small businessman do not have to worry about ever

increasing premiums for my workers, I can keep a lot of them employed.How is that socialism?

[elehhhhna]

4. You are correct--it would also solve age & sex discrimination in

hiring, to some extent. You'd be less inclined to avoid hiring older workers and potential-mothers, as well as people with dependents.

The paternalistic model of keeping employers responsible for healthcare is unworkable.

[Nay]

5. I'm convinced that many large businesses are against universal

health care because they think that a lot of their most talented workers, and the worker bees who support them, would quit and find less stressful jobs with humane hours, rather than stay in the rat race.

There are quite a few of us who would be delighted to have more free time, even if it meant less money, if we didn't have to worry about paying for health insurance.

[elehhhhna]

7. i assure you they'd be glad to give up the administration of healthplans.

[KlatooBNikto]

6. Part of the problem is that in addition to our idelogical fixation on

free enterprise in any and all circumstances, our narcissistic society worships the interests of the individual at the expense of our community's good.This produces the anomalous practice of gerrymandering the insurance pool so that aggressive tactics are used by some insurance companies to steal away heathy clients and leave the less healthy ( which means the older) to be preyed upon by predatory insurance companies.This defeats the whole purpose of insurance which is to spread the risk among a variety of potential claimants.In this way, those who are healthy bear some of the cost of those who get ill during their youger days.In turn they get the benefit from the next generation when they get older.Exactly like our social security system.To talk about free enterprise in this setting is like talking about virginity to Britney Spears.Doesn't compute.