"Dave" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 25 Nov 2008 07:55:15 -0500, Martin Baxter said:

Nope. An employer can provide no health benefits at all if he so
chooses.
The system of linking health benefits to employment is an outgrowth of
wage
an price controls of WWII. Most do offer them to be competitive in
hiring.

Ah, so Toyota has no health care plan for its' workers?

What is your basis for that conclusion?


The four letter word "Nope" that opens your previous post.

Most interesting and quite revealing. It suggests you believe businesses
answer only to government requirements--that market forces such as the
need
to compete with other potential employers in setting wages and benefits,
and
the need to compete with other sellers in product pricing, has no
influence
in those businesses' decisions. That assumption may be true in a command
economy. Maybe that's why command economies fail.


It's one of the answers. Certainly, the "free market" (which isn't free of
course) has a role also. However, left to only the free market, healthcare
costs would go up. This has already happened, so it's not really in dispute.
Private companies have little incentive to lower costs. They're in it for
the shareholders.


--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com