We’re No. 2 … in loss of employer health insurance

Cross-posted on Capitol Domes
 
It should come as no surprise that universal health care proponents are spinning a report from an organization that supports universal health care to suggest that we need -- guess what -- universal health care.


Or, they say, we should at least adopt Gov. Rendell's halfway measures now stalled in Harrisburg.
Aside from not having enough taxpayer money to pay for such schemes, no one is asking the important question: Why are we No. 2?

That’s probably because these same folks were the ones pushing for many of the policy changes enacted during the Rendell years that likely have forced employers to drop health insurance for their employees in the first place.

Maybe the 2004 income-tax increase of nearly 10 percent on small businesses meant businesses have had billions less in capital they could have spent on health insurance.

Or maybe it was the minimum-wage hike of nearly 40 percent pushed through in 2006 that reduced capital being spent on health insurance for employees.

Or perhaps government programs are crowding out private coverage, as studies indicate that up to 60 percent of enrollees in expanded government health care programs (Medicaid, SCHIP, AdultBasic, etc.) were those who recently dropped private coverage.

Or perhaps government mandates that drive up the cost of insurance, such as the recently enacted autism mandate, make it too costly for businesses to afford.

But instead of asking why, we’re simply told once again, “Government is the solution” to the problem it has helped create.

At the Commonwealth Foundation, we also see a need to reform our health care system, but we have better ideas on how to approach the problem.

What reforms would you like to see?