Linking basic* health care to employment as a default is ridiculously stupid. There is no real relation between a person's health and their job.<p>You can either view basic health care as a benefit to society as a whole, like a highway or a fire truck, and socialize it, or you can view it as a product for sale.<p>Viewing it as a benefit of a particular employment is not logical. This is like trying to mandate that your employer pay for your car insurance... there is no connection of mutual benefit.<p>Basic health care needs to be connected to the individual, while "extended health care" (or additional options, etc) can certainly be offered as a benefit. The employer <i>does</i> have an interest in you getting back to work faster, being in better health than the average, reducing the stress of your medical issue, etc, etc.<p>Interestingly enough, a socialized (single payer/universal, etc.) system of basic health care with privatized add on's and extras is <i>basically the way every civilized society on the planet operates except the USA</i>.<p>*You can define "basic" differently, but for my argument I mean a level of care that ensures a respectable level of heath is maintained... usually it is simply seeing health care as a human "right" and therefore not subject to withholding by the state or other actors.