Yesterday (Monday, 3/21)I heard a story on NPR Marketplace about the woes of General Motors. The reporter referred to the "healthcare penalty" included in the price of a car. This language has got to be nipped in the bud! The price of any product we buy depends on what it costs to make it. Labor is a part of that cost, and health care benefits are part of the cost of labor. This is a good thing - a prize, not a penalty. As Americans we need to realize that there is, indeed, no free lunch. Do we begrudge workers health care insurance? If we want a good job for ourself, with a good salary and good benefits, then why not for our neighbor? Health care is expensive, and it must be paid for somehow.
The truth is that our health care delivery system is broken and we need a complete overhaul. [The other truth is that if GM made better cars, people would buy them even if they cost more.] If we had universal health care provided by a government program, like most civilized industrialized countries in the world, then employers would not have to provide health care benefits and the cost of that care would not be included in the price of our goods. But then we would pay in some other form - perhaps higher taxes. This is NOT a bad thing! Health care is a very good thing and we must pay for it somehow - just like we must pay for education, or for roads, or for clean rivers.