While we have lots of respect for @anishmehta10 and his work, his piece this week in Fast Company comes to the wrong conclusion re: the lessons of COVID-19 and the employer health care system. https://www.fastcompany.com/90581621/why-company-wide-healthcare-should-be-business-priority

There is absolutely no good reason for employers to be the backbone of access to healthcare. It creates a system that is unfair, unsustainable, and expensive. The average cost of a family plan this year was more than $20,000 - that's more than $10 an hour for an employee.

The Fast Company story doesn't mention how the employer health care system stifles wages, creates job lock, reduces entrepreneurship, and creates an uneven playing field between businesses that do provide the benefit and those that don't.

Every business owner we have spoken with in 2020 said that their COVID-19 recovery plan would be easier if they did not have the burden of providing health insurance. We know biz owners who wiped out their personal savings keeping furloughed employees on company health plans.

The suggestion that cash-strapped businesses should look at an expense that consumes between 15-20% of their payroll (and growing each year) as a business benefit is a laughable idea.

The only policy that would truly deliver universal health care to all Americans, cut the tie between a job and health insurance, and protect the country (and health care workers) from the next COVID-19, is #MedicareForAll

Study after study has shown that Medicare for All costs less than the current system and would improve health outcomes across the board. No more deductibles, no more co-pays, no more premiums, and more medical debt.

The 3,200 + businesses we work with say the Medicare for All would save them money and allow them to boost wages, hire more workers, and expand their business. It's an economic win-win for both small & mid-sized businesses and working families.

The employer health care system was cracked and failing before COVID-19. This pandemic has given us countless reasons to ditch this system and move to one that guarantees coverage to all Americans, regardless of where they work or how much money they make.