Personally, I’d rather have the extra $ or have them kick in for an outside (exchange or otherwise) plan — at least I’d be able to carry it between jobs or if I lose work. The sooner insurance is divorced from employment, the better for everyone. Employees because it will be portable and not dependent on continued employment, employers because a car mechanic or restaurant owner shouldn’t need to be a benefits manager (and isn’t necessarily best suited to be one).[/quote]
I agree about separating health insurance from the employment. I also support your single payer position. Unfortunately, I am forced to deal with here and now in addition to dealing with hypothetical (I prefer hypothetical… in that realm I’m great and fearless warrior. Here and now not so much).
The company will bump our salaries to match the cost of premium. There is the after tax/before tax issue. There is also issue of having to go back every year to get a raise just to match the increase in the premium. As I said, ACA looked very nice after the initial 5-minute cursory review.
