2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumSomething I wish Bernie had said
(posted this in response to an OP)
If we had had universal health care, maybe GM would not have gone bankrupt in the 1st place
Every year the cost of retired workers' health care diverted billions of dollars from developing new models and added $1,400 to the cost of each car compared with those made in Asian and European transplants.
http://www.economist.com/node/13782942
there were a LOT of reasons for GM's bankruptcy, not least the foreign transplants in the non-union southern right to work states.
But having to pay employee and pensioner health care was certainly a huge reason
On another note, the Cadillac tax is looming on the horizon; it was delayed until well after the election.
The 40 percent excise tax was designed to kill at least two birds with one stone, by reining in health-care spending and providing funding for other provisions of Obamacare, including insurance subsidies for low-income Americans. Starting in 2020a new deadline passed by Congress last monththe tax will be levied on plan providers, like insurance companies and self-insured employers. But it would ultimately have effects on workers, too: An insurance company would pass at least some of the cost on to employers, who would in turn make coverage or cost-sharing adjustments to contend with the tax. The tax applies to health-insurance premiums that cost more than $10,200 for a single person or more than $27,500 for couples and families. Those thresholds, which include both the employee and employer contributions, are designed to rise with inflation. But because health costs tend to grow faster than inflation, the number of health-care plans that qualify for the tax will rise, too. Kosali Simon, a health economist at Indiana University, suggests that as premiums first rise above the threshold in small amounts, it might not be a big deal for individuals. But over time, more and more people will find more and more of their premiums subject to the tax.
Unions have been among the most vocal opponents of the Cadillac tax, as they have traditionally used substantial benefits packages to attract members. But Kleins group, the Alliance to Fight the 40which counts unions, insurance companies, an American Cancer Society affiliate, and county governments among its membersclaims every American covered by employer-sponsored insurance, roughly 175 million people, are at risk, because of the inflation indexing.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/01/cadillac-tax-obamacare/431679/
putitinD
(1,551 posts)amborin
(16,631 posts)TheFarseer
(9,317 posts)They act like Medicare For All just costs tax payers money and has no benefit. It saves tax-payers and companies health insurance premiums. Those costs make American businesses less competitive compared to foreign companies that don't pay that cost for their workers.
snowy owl
(2,145 posts)There are many good points of his activism that he could be talking about but he doesn't. That is a major campaign error.
wish he would mention these issues; universal health care was equally relevant to the Boeing question;
and the looming cadillac tax is relevant to discussion of his tax plan
lostnfound
(16,161 posts)Better than the Ex Im bank, better than bailouts or special tax breaks for industries that lobby
snowy owl
(2,145 posts)making appointments. That is on record how he burned Burlington around. And yes, confirmations are required but he have coattails and the bully pulpit and he'd use it.