 
News of the Day ... in Perspective10/23/2003One-Third of Uninsured Work for Large Companies. According to an Associated Press article, October 22, 2003, 32% of the uninsured work for companies with more than 500 employees, up from 25% in 1987. Many labor disputes center on medical benefits. Firms with 50 or more employees are not permitted by current law to offer a tax-exempt Medical Savings Account option. The implosion of employer-based third-party financing of medical care is one reason for an intensified push for national health insurance. It could also serve as a stimulus to ask how Americans became dependent on employers for medical care in the first place; how this dependency affects cost and quality; and how the connection between the workplace and medical care might be severed to the benefit of both employers and employees. Additional information: It’s the tax code, Stupid! Medical Savings Accounts: Necessary Centerpiece for Reform “Covering” the Uninsured: the Wrong Goal (AAPS News, April 2003, pp. 1-2)
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