Healthcare and Employment

I’m lucky to have a job that provides good benefits, including good healthcare for myself and my family.

But every time I decide to switch jobs, my first question about a potential new job is about what sort of health insurance benefits are provided.

And even when they do provide good insurance, I always have to ask a bunch of questions about availability and so on to ensure that I won’t go without coverage during the period that I’m switching from one job to another.

The fact that this is such a top concern when trying to decide where I’m going to work is absurd.

I don’t really understand the history of healthcare in the United States, so I just don’t understand how we came to be in a place where adequate healthcare become tied to employment.

And I really don’t understand the people that think that this is a reasonable way to do this. Why can’t we fix this, and just provide affordable healthcare to everybody? Why aren’t people willing to pay a little more in taxes so that nobody has to worry about whether or not they can afford to go to the doctor or get the medicines they need?

I just don’t get it.