Originally posted by: BaliBabyDoc
Yes they are, but the reason that many small (less than 50 employees) don't offer healthcare is the outrageous cost of the premiums. Which, in my opinion, could be done away with by getting rid of third-party payors, not by the feds throwing more money into medicare and other medical programs.
My father offered his employees health insurance for a while but dumped it due to the increasing premiums. Our system is a patchwork of third-party payers. I assume you are advocating fee-for-service? I think that's great as long as it is illegal to refuse services b/c someone can't pay. Medicare and Medicaid have lower overhead than private carriers. The major problem is the BS documentation imposed by Medicare and the reduction in reimbursement from the Feds.
Premiums are exploding b/c of the bum market. Carriers were happy to lose money on policies when the market was booming . . . insurance was like a side business. Now they can't make money unless their premiums are jacked up. Which has made small business optioning go from difficult to nearly impossible.