A look back at how employer-based healthcare has shaped our economy and education system...

Do any of you have opinions or thoughts about how employer-based healthcare has shaped our economy and education system?

This question is prompted by Hillary's defense in the last debate, "We are not England," and her reminder that our employer-based system was set up after WWII. I also notice on another thread that a poster astutely asked that when we compare the costs of public education in other countries to our own, are these comparisons eliminating the cost of healthcare, which is covered by the governments there, and by the education system here.

And so I ask anyone who has information or an opinion, how has the burden of healthcare costs on the shoulders of business and/or education and anything else figure into our competitiveness and effectiveness? Clearly the winners are entities that do no exist as heartily or at all in other countries where the healthcare systems are not part of the business and education system's financial responsibility, namely healthcare insurance companies, malpractice insurance companies, and the entire malpractice industry. They have de facto benefits. But how has it added to the cost of doing business here? How has it added to the burden of paying for education, and the cuts that need to be made in order to pay for healthcare costs that rise faster than other areas of the education budgets of many localities?

And an somewhat or completely unrelated question... If the U.S. used regions rather than states for more of its budgeting and spending, would there be a benefit? An example is the tuition break that universities in certain regions give to students living within the region rather than only the state. In going further with this concept, what is or could be done regionally in terms of healthcare, governmental and educational objectives?

Thank you in advance for your thoughts.

I will be writing my PhD dissertation based on your responses, so please -- Be Brilliant.

I'd say that employee based healthcare discourages small businesses. There are enough risks involved in starting a small business, add to the the high costs of having to purchases your own health insurance and it is easy to understand why many are not willing to take the risk, especially if they have children. 

Small businesses also have issues with hiring good employees for the same reasons. My husband has turned down job offers from startups for this reason. Any job he is willing to consider at this point has to offer good benefits. With three kids buying a policy on our own would be unaffordable. 

The alternative to employer based healthcare means accepting the fact that we will need to tax at a much higher rate like the UK to offer National healthcare.  It requires more systemic change that frankly goes well beyond healthcare.

One of my go-to resources for healthcare policy is Sarah Kliff. She was a reporter at the Washington Post, now at Vox (it's largely on the strength of her being part of it that I started reading Vox).

Here's a good article she wrote on the problems with the American healthcare system:

http://www.vox.com/2014/9/2/6089693/health-care-facts-whats-wrong-american-insurance

She talks about the WWII-era origins in section 4.

If you email her, she might be willing to direct you to more resources. I emailed her once with a question and she responded, so she's at least somewhat open to emailed questions.

Thanks everyone!

blown away by some of the information in the article PVM!