Second Opinion January 20, 2025
Let’s get real about the alliance between U.S. health care and employment
In the U.S., we’ve created a system where health care is tied to the job we have. To understand why that is, we have to look back into history — at the post WW2 era, when it was imperative to get Americans back to work, so offering health care was a great benefit. This made some sense in the 1950s and beyond, when it was common to stay at the same company through retirement.
That is no longer the case today, given the rising rates of job hopping and flexible contract-based work. And yet, about 60% of people still get their health care through an...