The business case for the public option in 5 minutes or less

Why does the public health insurance option make sense for your business? Simply, it is now off your books. What’s next? Well that will free you up to provide a % of those benefits to your employees as an added wage. But wait, get this. It also provides you with the benefit of being able to pocket the rest. Think about it. Insurance = off the books. Wages = higher. Labor costs = lower.

If this isn’t dreamy enough for ya, let’s imagine where else this simple math takes us. When wages are stagnant and you are unable to provide a more than competitive wage to your potential recruits, what happens? You often lose out on the best candidates, engage in prolonged searches, and stew over lost opportunities. What does this mean? Greater costs for recruitment, lost time, decreased productivity, and missed revenue opportunity. I mean this doesn’t even need the rhetorical force of a full sentence. It is just that obvious.

If this isn’t enough to suit you, the money you paid into those former benefits that you chose to pocket could be deployed for new product development, market entry, or whatever business flavor you savor. Need a new corporate jet? Support the public option. Want to attract high paying candidates with talent and experience? Support the public option. Want a big ole’ bonus for cutting labor costs? Support the public option. Want to keep pretending that golf trips deserve to be expensed? Support the public option.

All that can be yours, if you act now. But act fast. This window of opportunity is closing. If you sit idly by and let this business opportunity pass… well you are hurting not only yourself but your employees. Think about it. This thing sells itself. It’s like a cold beer in a warm summer breeze. Or at least an extra round of golf on the company dime.

The public option, it’s good for business.

My vision was that Medicare for all would be paid for by increasing the Medicare tax that employees and employers currently pay, to the point necessary for the benefits to come from Medicare rather than an insurance company. Thus, employer and employee would still be paying for benefits, but paying less than they currently do. This would seem a burden to those small businesses which currently provide no benefits to their employees, but it probably isn't when you consider that those small businesses are no longer paying through the nose for the insurance for the proprietor and his family. Yes, it will raise costs for some people, especially those who are winging it, but in a society in which a person cannot be refused necessary medical treatment, a person who has no insurance is actually acting irresponsibly because he will get the care he needs if he needs it, but he hasn't been paying into the system which provides it.

Poor people, aren't contributing anything anyway, so they will be pretty much unchanged, EXCEPT, that by making Medicare for all, for all, then those people who are currently able to contribute more than they currently do, will be able to work without risking the loss of their MediCAID.

Big business should love it because Medicare for all will be cheaper than United Healthcare For Some, and they get to pocket the difference. Which is why we need to court big business on this, you can believe that the naysayers are talking to them.

in exchange for a proportion of the money that currently goes to my benefits in higher salary.

I'd also just accept the higher tax.

The post is mostly about how businesses think this will be bad for them. Ideology trumps their own interests in this case.

I don't think it's a big difference. However if I was an employer, I'd advocate for my employees to jump off my sponsored plan and go with the governments.

Even with Medicare for all, the employer sponsorship is unnecessary.

and the Medicare savings was 33% (Medicare admin cost of 3% vs 16% admin cost private sector plus 20% pretax profit - not to mention gross salaries) then the employer is still saving substantial dollars from current contribution to private plans AND employee takes home better net check due to not having their share of private plan coming out of weekly pay.

why are the Republicans complaining?

Habit and inclination. They are sore losers in the extreme.