Ironically, many poorer nations have more affordable Healthcare than the United States. There's a whole "medical tourism" industry built around people from the US going to other countries for basic procedures and medication.
That was always stupid and didn't make sense, it's not because the labor/employment relationship used to be different.
This is completely false. Employer-based healthcare was a consequence of World War 2. The US Congress passed 1942 Stabilization Act in order to combat inflation. As a result of this legislation employers could not compete for workers using wages alone. Employers then began to offer health benefits a perk and since that perk was not compensation it was not taxed. This fact is actually well-documented.[1][2]. It was offered in lieu of compensation and pre-tax vs post-tax status had nothing to do with the birth of this.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stabilization_Act_of_1942
[2] https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/commentary/ct-obamaca...
It's an "employers' market" now as we are competing with the poorest nations on earth — a race to the bottom.
Nice for shareholders I guess?
People turn to their tax-paid, elected government for the things that Capitalism decides not to provide.