On Tue, 12 Oct 2010 12:09:06 -0700, "nom=de=plume"
wrote:

It is important to remember how health
insurance started: It was offered as a fringe benefit by employers
as an inducement to attract and retain good employees. Then it
morphed into an entittlement starting with Medicare/Medicaid.


That's not completely accurate...

Perhaps not every "i" is dotted but it's pretty close for a short two
sentence summary.

My point, confirmed by your article, is that this whole notion of
"health coverage" as an entitlement is a recent thing. The jury is
still out on whether or not this can be provided to everyone without
wrecking the US economy even more than it already is.