Benefit of Single Payer that is not often discussed. [View all]

[LuckyCharms]

Many people don't realize that while they usually see a large deduction from their gross pay for health insurance in their check stub, their employer is also bearing the burden of that cost.

Depending on the risk pool that an employer's medical insurance company places the employees of the insured company in, the employee premiums can be tremendously high. The employer usually shares the cost of the premium. I have generally seen a 50/50 share.

Single payer has the potential of eliminating both the employer's and employee's share of the premium. The employer would incur zero premium cost, and while the employee would incur some type of "tax" deduction which contributes to the single payer system, it would not approach the premiums previously deducted from his or her paycheck because the employee is now contributing to a pool where risk is diversified over a large percentage of the US population, and not the much smaller base of the employees working for their particular company.

The benefits to the employee in this case are obvious. But the benefits of single payer to the employer are hardly ever discussed. The employer no longer pays 50% of their employee's medical insurance premiums. This substantial cost is no longer a hindrance to the bottom line. A significant amount of cashflow is freed up. Profits improve, and therefore, stock prices improve for public companies. Private companies are benefited in the same manor by an improved net income. More employees can be hired, more profit can be taken by owners, businesses can be expanded, quality employees can be retained by giving them more frequent raises, and these employees then in turn pump more money into the economy, etc.