Research indicates that a single-payer health care system in the U.S. would save the country or individual states money in the long run, but many employers are opposed to such a system, even though it is costly, according to news reports.
A June 10, 2021, Marketplace article noted that employers paid 67% of medical premiums for family coverage plans in March 2020 and contributed an annual average of almost $14,000 per family. The article examined several possible reasons companies prefer the current system, including that offering health insurance gives large established companies a competitive advantage over startups and fledgling companies when recruiting employees.
William Hsiao, K.T. Li Professor of Economics, Emeritus, at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, noted that industries that are heavy with younger workers, such as the tech industry, are likely to oppose single-payer systems because health insurance premiums tend to be lower for younger people. Hsiao added that some companies may worry that their workers would demand higher pay if the company wasn’t covering their health insurance, while other companies may be ideologically opposed to having a government-run health system.
Read the Marketplace article: Why don’t U.S. businesses show more support for single-payer health care?