GM plant closings and health care

[pstans]

I heard a story on NPR about GM closing plants in the next few years. The thing that stuck out to me was when they said that GM would be negotiating health care costs with labor unions and that because GM provides health insurance to its employees it adds $1,500 to the price of each vehicle they make.

Why don't we have universal health care in this country? It seems that businesses would be all for this because they would not have to provide health care to their employees. They would be able to hire more people, pay better wages, and make more money.

Howard Dean said that we are the only industrialized country without a universal health care system. If Democrats frame the issue in a way that benefits business then something might change.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. Business already knows.

Business also has capital investments in HMOs, insurance companies, hospitals and Big Pharma. It's all quite incestuous.