Former Aetna CEO Says He’d Eliminate Employer-Sponsored Insurance to Fix the U.S. Healthcare Industry in Wake of UnitedHealthcare Shooting
13th December 2024
Fortune, a Voice of the Crust.
In the early 19404s, having so much of the U.S. population in military service caused a severe labor shortage, and in order to entice the remaining eligible population to join the workforce, employers began hiking wages. Fearing a wave of inflation as a result of the hiring push, President Franklin Roosevelt created the Office of Esconomic Stabilization and authorized wage controls through the Stabilization Act of 1942. The move forced employers to instead use increased health insurance benefits as an incentive. To accommodate the growing number of Americans receiving health care through employee-provided insurance, Congress passed the Hill-Burton Act in 1946 to build and expand U.S. hospitals.
So, as is traditional, the problem was caused by the government meddling in the economy. And it still continues to do so — one of the big problems with ‘Obamacare’ is the government mandating coverage that they think everybody ought to have, like abortion and contraceptive coverage for nuns, rather than letting people do what suits them best. The ‘problem’ is not employer-sponsored insurance; the problem is government meddling.