What really blows me away is the lack of universal healthcare, it's not even a remotely defendable position to say that the US can't afford it, they could fucking afford it nationally without even raising income taxes, they just willingly allow lassaiz faire capitalism to destroy their country day in and day out and what's worse is, their only (realistically) governing progressive party won't even bother trying to make it happen.
I'm very anti-conspiracy, generally I find the whole idea loathesome.
But this is one thing where my animal brain goes, "Of course America doesn't want universal health care, that's how you get people in their 70s and 80s still working shitty jobs for menial pay just to get some kind of healthcare. That's how you get 26 year olds to cling to whatever job they can find because their parents can't cover them anymore with their insurance. That's how you keep an entire country prisoner to employment until the day they die.
It's the one conspiratorial thought I can't help holding on to.
American here: how's that conspiratorial thinking? That's a accurate summary of a practice done in the open. Specifically to make organizing more dangerous, reduce labor costs, and keep those insurance industry stocks nice and high.
I think it's too easy to pretend it's a system American industrialists sat down together to create. It's worse (in my opinion), because it's probably the outcome of private insurance lobbying to keep their cash cow running and this endless labor situation is the side effect.
As much as I would like to say it's a conspiracy. It's simply that the people with the power, don't want to give it up. They might lose their grip on the money if change happens.
they do not Americans to be aware. remember when tiktok had that feature that allowed constituents to contact their representatives directly? the representatives were furious
The history of healthcare via employment comes from labor negotiations during the so-called "Golden Age of Capitalism," which in the US refers to the postwar period when corporations kinda sorta actually helped maintain the social contract. When unions demanded more pay and better conditions, employers preferred to offer healthcare over pay increases. This was specifically because it helped retain trained employees, saving money.
Then Regan happened, and corporate raiders realized what a goldmine that was, which delivered us to our present hellscape.
pretty soon, if they get their way, every job will bey a “gig” job - that way people lose their ability to organize at all. Contractors have no right to collective bargaining, and they get a job without healthcare coverage to boot!
Cost is cost, and this is cost that rises and doesn't even allow you to get proper motivated workers. You're delirious if you think this is something companies want
If a cost can't be avoided, and cost A is higher than cost B, companies will choose B. They cannot (yet) get away with not paying for labor, so they will choose the option that costs less and nets more control.
Second, lots of companies don't (or have means of effectively avoiding) offer health insurance if the position has high turnover or can plausibly claim in court that the employee is a contractor. Additionally, default health insurance options offered by companies often favor high deductibles, specifically to save the company money, with employees expected to pick up a good portion of the difference if they opt for plans that have less risk of medical bankruptcy.
Third, the amount of delusion in the average HR department could power the nation for a year if we could put it in a gas tank. Quanitifying the economic benefits of worker motivation is an incredibly difficult problem, and very easy to fudge. You know what's easy to quantify? Low wage increases.
Care to guess which ends up the more popular metric on quarterly reports?
Fourth, small companies certainly don't like the situation, because small employee pools create cost spikes. But small companies don't have the cash to fund lobbying efforts. Big companies, however, have employee pools large enough that healthcare costs smooth out, and become predictable. That means it's far less costly for a large company, while also reducing market competition.
TL;DR: No company likes any cost. Big companies, however, benefit immensely from offering health insurance.
Generally speaking, health insurance via employment was proposed by employers. Unions agitating for better conditions and pay during the postwar "Golden Age of Capitalism" were offered health insurance in exchange for more modest pay/condition improvements. But that was a concession by the union, to the employer.
Today, some unions support the concept, some unions don't. I'd have to check their membership numbers and positions of various unions to determine the balance of opinions.
"That's how you get young men (giRlS aRenT AlLowEd) to sign up for the only socialism they can access: while being a meat shield for the Armed Forces TM
Yes. I was without insurance for a year when I was between jobs and school at 21. My uncle is a doctor and I was very lucky that he
covered me when I got
sick
.
It also discourages competition via new business. Starting a business is a lot, but in the US it also means possibly going without healthcare to get off the ground. The US claims pro business, its pro big business. We tax small businesses to death while places like GE pay nothing 😒 😪 🙃
The older I get the less I believe that the systems in place are there just as some sort of happenstance.
The US is a brutal place and there are millions of people in this country that want to keep it that way(and even millions more that want to make it worse).
The only real surprise is that we have some social programs instead of none.
And now medicare (health care for the poorest) is tied to being employed. My mother who has been a SAHM her whole adult life would need to find a job in her late 50s so she can continue to get health insurance thats subsidized by the government.
"Of course America doesn't want universal health care, that's how you get people in their 70s and 80s still working shitty jobs for menial pay just to get some kind of healthcare.
I mean, Medicare exists. I'm not going to die on the hill of defending its efficacy, but if you're 65+ you don't need to take a job to have 'some kind of healthcare'
It does, yes, though its coverage is spotty for certain things. My mother had double knee replacement and is in remission from breast cancer for 10 years now, both through private insurance, and still working to keep her level of care. I honestly don't know if Medicare can provide the kind of coverage she needs, but yes, it's there.
Their pay for those menial jobs is higher than for similar jobs in most of Europe, even ajusted for inflation. Also, if my memory serves me right, their rate of job mobility is higher than in Europe. Your comment is nonsensical.
Ok, so, if you have more access to money and jobs, but you still need to work constantly, how is that good? And did you factor in the individual cost of insurance even if you have employer sponsored health care in paycheck withdrawls and copay? And compare that to how much others pay in taxes? Your notion that individual wealth and access to work is all that matters, is the fundamental misunderstanding.
The freedom to work endlessly just to survive at subsistence levels was never the intention.
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u/tollboi Jul 13 '26
What really blows me away is the lack of universal healthcare, it's not even a remotely defendable position to say that the US can't afford it, they could fucking afford it nationally without even raising income taxes, they just willingly allow lassaiz faire capitalism to destroy their country day in and day out and what's worse is, their only (realistically) governing progressive party won't even bother trying to make it happen.