Employer based health insurance is in part compensation, is it not?

[Skidmore]

If my employer contributes to the health care plan I have, then it is part of my compensation as an employee. When an employer drops health care plans for its employees, it is, in fact, a decrease in pay for the employee. Is it not? If my reasoning is incorrect, correct me. If not, how can this be turned around to force employers to provide better wages to make up for this loss as people need to find their own health care insurance minus the lower rates that comes from group coverage?

[JustAnotherGen]

1. My company wraps it in

to my annual 'compensation' package. So yep - if they drop it then I lose about $7K of my 'annual salary'.

One would like to hope they would be ethical and give that money to their employees to go purchase their own but we all know that would never happen.

[ret5hd]

2. How? Unions.

[tridim]

3. I don't participate in the overpriced company plan.. So I lose compensation by default.

It's just horrible. I bought the exact same individual plan for 50% less than they offer it for.

[CrispyQ]

6. I recently checked out individual health insurance & was stunned when the agent told me,

"most people think it's more expensive than group plans, but if you are in good health, that's not the case." Then he went on to explain that the group plans have to cover everybody, regardless of their health. The rates he quoted for my husband & me are almost the same as our current group plan.

Of all the companies my husband & I have worked for only one gave employees who had other insurance coverage their premium back in their paycheck.

[janlyn]

4. I believe it is!

2 Yrs ago my company stopped paying the 50% of my healthcare they had until then covered.
My current cost is 220.00 per month. What really ticks me off is a man in my company my same age is paying $70 less.
Blue Cross and Blue shield told me it was basically because of my lady parts *sarcasm*...BULLSHIT!!!

So men don't get prostate trouble, testicular cancer or any of the ailments that could attack their MAN parts???

[SharonAnn]

5. If your cost is $220 a month, then you've got bad coverage or someone is paying the rest of it.

Even at group rates, I don't think you can get anywhere near $220 a month as the total cost of the insurance.