Hey Sean! I think you've raised a really important point that's worthy of serious debate. I agree with you in many ways—employer-provided health care probably shouldn't have become a "responsibility" for businesses in the first place. As I understand it, this practice took hold decades ago as a tool for companies to attract and retain talent — although I've heard some other… "alternative" reasons as well. Regardless, it's evolved into something complex and burdensome, especially for smaller businesses. Having been self-employed most of my life, I've rarely experienced employer-provided health care, and when I did, it was certainly nice as a perk but never something I felt businesses owed their employees.

I think health insurance can be a valuable competitive benefit companies can offer to attract top talent. However, you're right that it shouldn't be the norm or expectation, especially given the skyrocketing costs and inefficiencies in our current system. Perhaps this presents an opportunity to rethink the benefits we provide to employees altogether.

What if companies invested in proactive, holistic care programs instead of traditional health insurance? For example, they could provide quality meal plans, fitness programs, mental health support, and wellness initiatives to keep employees and their families healthy. Stipends could be available for those times when actual medical care is necessary, but by focusing on prevention and overall well-being, we might see less dependency on a broken insurance system, fewer health issues, and ultimately lower costs.

I dunno.

Our current health care system is undeniably a quagmire—complex, expensive, and often ineffective and I'm with you, it's definitely worthy of a critical re-examination.