Unlike many stories on this topic, this story has no drama and no tragedy.
I happened to be speaking with someone from HR at the company I recently joined. I was the firm's 50th or 51st employee The firm has undergone some restructuring this year, as a result of which it is no longer part of a larger firm.
The HR person mentioned that the firm's cost for health care was going to increase about 29%. Had it remained below 50 employees, the increase would have been nearly 80%. (Even absent the restructuring the increase would have reached 18%.)
The firm is profitable and will continue to provide (and mostly pay for) employee health insurance.
But many other firms, especially small firms, would have a serious problem doing so.
(Large firms don't do to well with it either.)
The current system of employer based health insurance with tax subsidies for the employer provided insurance is becoming increasingly unsustainable.
This is going to be even more true if the economic downturn worsens.
We need to take advantage of this situation to create a system that will deliver affordable health care to more Americans.