Is employer-based health insurance a barrier to entrepreneurship?

Re:Is employer-based health insurance a barrier to entrepren... by mcculley on Monday February 28, 2011 @10:10AM (#2271425)

I have employees who were laid off from their previous jobs. They could not afford to pay the COBRA payment and let their insurance lapse. They are now disqualified from private insurance and have pre-existing conditions that are not covered under our group plan.

It is easy to tell people not to let their insurance lapse. If they have no income, this is not feasible.

The point of the article is that the current system inhibits entrepreneurship. Plenty of employees in the current system stay with their employer out of fear of losing their coverage instead of pursuing other opportunities.

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Re:Is employer-based health insurance a barrier to entrepren... by anamax on Monday February 28, 2011 @04:09PM (#2272924)

> It is easy to tell people not to let their insurance lapse. If they have no income, this is not feasible.

If they have no income, health insurance isn't their only problem. There's housing and food as well.

> Plenty of employees in the current system stay with their employer out of fear of losing their coverage instead of pursuing other opportunities.

Lots of things have that effect, including having kids, buying a house, and so on. Many of them have far greater effect than pre-existing conditions, yet ....

There are also people who can't take the leap because taxes keep them from saving enough. Increasing their taxes to pay for other people's healthcare is going to make that worse.

None of the proposals address cost. (No, preventative care doesn't actually reduce costs. It "merely" makes life more enjoyable.) They just cost shift differently.

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