Because we’ve always done it this way

 A recent trip to the ER (nothing serious, it’s resolved) got me to thinking about health care again.  The bill for that visit was several thousand dollars, and I didn’t have to pay a thing because I’ve got good health insurance.

 I have a good job, so I have good insurance at no additional direct cost to me.  So the person most likely to have the resources to pay a medical bill doesn’t have to pay a thing, because of good insurance.  If a person doesn’t happen to have a good job, they probably don’t have good insurance, so the person least likely to have the resources to cover a medical bill is the most likely to have to pay.  Does that make any sense?

 Everybody, in their life, needs health care.  Does the person with the well paying job deserve health care more than the person that doesn’t have a job?  What if the worker with a well paying job gets laid off, through no fault of their own, and can’t find another job in a contracting economy, or a contracting industry?  Do they deserve health care without crushing debt before they lose their job, but not after?  They’re the same person.

 I know how and when medical insurance came to be a perk of employment, but aside from the fact that we’ve always done it this way, does it make sense to do it this way?