link to original reddit post by /u/mrpenguin_86
In my family's tax business, we get to see lots of W2s, and one requirement is that employers report how much they paid for insurance. I've yet to see any employer pay less than $10k for their employee's (even single) health insurance. Now, history lesson: way back in the day, think WWII, the feds froze wages. This made companies find alternative ways to compensate employees, and so employer-sponsored health care was born. As we all know, any price that someone doesn't personally pay is never going to correlate with the trust cost of a product. Just like when children don't have to pay for anything, they have zero understanding of how much things cost.
Ever put in $10k into a spread sheet and play a game where you simulate what happens if employers, instead of paying $10k for health care, simply give employees $10k more to do what they want (such as buy health care)? You quickly see that the employer makes nearly $1M before retirement is even really considered. Live healthy into your 60s? Those late-life hospital visits, imaging services, and long-term care become affordable!
Let us all thank the government for finding a better use for our money! Praise be Bernie!