The US healthcare system worked for the majority of people until roughly the last 15 years, and then it began failing gradually up the income ladder. So if you look more recently, the last ten years in particular, that would be the window where something like this would especially begin to matter. It wasn't done before, because it didn't make sense for large entities to bother; things have gotten bad enough that now it makes sense.
The average annual premium for families for health insurance was $5,791 in 1999. The median was even lower. Today it's closer to $18,000.
The system worked at $5,791, the average family could afford that without much problem. At $18,000 the system breaks apart and fails for the typical family. Wages for the US were even further beyond comparable nations back in ~1999. With very modest real wage growth since 1999, especially at the median, that $18,000 cost essentially represents money in the economy that should have in part gone into wage growth.
These large companies now have a powerful incentive - for several different reasons - to begin hammering down the cost of healthcare. Their action on this front is a positive fortunately, these companies are extraordinarily powerful, both politically and economically. If they're dead set on bringing down the cost of healthcare, that's exactly what will happen, and they'll gather other very willing partners and the momentum will likely roll.
The average annual premium for families for health insurance was $5,791 in 1999. The median was even lower. Today it's closer to $18,000.
The system worked at $5,791, the average family could afford that without much problem. At $18,000 the system breaks apart and fails for the typical family. Wages for the US were even further beyond comparable nations back in ~1999. With very modest real wage growth since 1999, especially at the median, that $18,000 cost essentially represents money in the economy that should have in part gone into wage growth.
These large companies now have a powerful incentive - for several different reasons - to begin hammering down the cost of healthcare. Their action on this front is a positive fortunately, these companies are extraordinarily powerful, both politically and economically. If they're dead set on bringing down the cost of healthcare, that's exactly what will happen, and they'll gather other very willing partners and the momentum will likely roll.