> And if that got people asking why they pay tax on their health insurance when they buy it themselves, or why health insurance costs so much in the US, all the better.

Or it might just lower the compensation package that autoworkers get and make other industries more attractive by comparison.

Employees that want to know can already figure out what their employer pays for. Health insurance tax subsidies have massively distorted the health insurance markets for decades and there is more access to this knowledge than ever before, but there have been no major efforts to reform this and sever health insurance from company sponsorship.

That said, I think that would be one of the best things we could do to lower health care costs quickly -- force all employers to shift their health insurance to the employees and increase their pay by the cash equivalent.