This essay was submitted by Arthur C. Donart, Ph. D. It is third in a series.
In a competitive market for goods and services, one has to be careful about increasing prices, because a slight increase may cost them customers. Especially when money is tight, you pay attention and try to stretch your dollar as far as it will go. When you are an employer, it is essential to be able to attract good help in order to stay competitive in the market.
Go to Fixithealthcare.com and watch two, short videos. They explain the bind many small businesses are in. One is about the cost of Employee Health Insurance Cost. The other is about Prescription Drug Prices.
As employee insurance costs rise, businesses face one-to-three undesirable choices: raise prices; cut coverage; offer small-or-no wage increases. That situation is further egregious, because their overseas business competitors do not have to provide healthcare. Many European Governments provide healthcare at far less cost than we pay here.
It doesn’t have to be that way. Two highly-respected economists from the University of California at Berkeley, CA, are leading experts on wealth inequality. Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman maintain that Medicare for All (M4A) would be a huge benefit for the vast majority of workers. They cited the following example. Follow the money.
“Take the case of a Secretary earning $50,000 in wages and currently contributing $15,000 through her employer to an insurance company. With universal health insurance, her $50,000 wage would rise to $65,000, her full labor compensation. An income tax rate of 6% which, if applied to a base large enough, would be enough to fund universal health insurance, she would have to pay $4000 more in tax.
“But her net gain would be an enormous $11,000! Instead of taking home $50,000, the Secretary would take home $61,000.”
What if we are not talking about a Secretary who could perhaps work from home, during the pandemic? Consider a Waitress who lost her job due to the pandemic? With M4A coverage, she–at least–would not be losing her critical health insurance.
Contact Dr. Donart at drdonart@yahoo.com.