Even if you have a job with health insurance, you've got problems. Publicly funded universal health care can change that.

A family of four covered through a typical employer health plan will pay out $9,144 this year in premiums and out-of-pocket expenses, up about 6.5% over 2012. Employees are shouldering a greater share of the cost of health insurance, this year paying 8.4% more than last year toward insurance premiums. Private-industry wages, by contrast, have risen less than 2 percent in the last year.   Read more.

"Administrative costs consume 31% of US health spending, vs 16.7% in Canada. The US could save enough on admin expenses (nearly $400 BILLION annually) with single payer universal health care
to provide comprehensive coverage for ALL the uninsured."

Right, this is
old news (2003 research, corroborated often since). A growing majority of
American citizens and health care professionals think it's [past] time to act on
this. Citizens, speak up. Legislators, listen up.

Business owners find themselves in the crosshairs of increasing costs and decreasing coverage. Passing it on to employees does not solve the problem, it only moves it. Employees are unhappy because of the "take-away", and less healthy because, even with insurance, they can't afford medical care. Biz Buzz, a Hood River business journal, tells the story.

Remember those escalating health care costs? Those bills on your desk? Your premiums, deductibles, copays, exclusions, and uncovered services? But not everybody’s hurting…

The CEOs of Providence Health & Services  and ProvidenceOregon had total compensation of $6.4 million
and $4.26 million, respectively, in 2011.

Did you know  - The insurance industry is currently the only business in Oregon exempt from the Unlawful Trade Act. Proposed legislation would remove that exemption and allow the Attorney General and injured parties to sue for fraud. The exemption allows insurance companies to act with impunity and reduces their incentive to pay out claims as warranted. 35 other states do not exempt insurance companies from their state unlawful trade practices acts. The insurance lobby is fighting back hard.

Article in the NY times today:

"The Obama administration says it will require health insurance companies to report all price increases, no matter how small, to the federal government so officials can monitor the impact of the new health care law and insurers’ compliance with it...Insurers object to the requirements."

Shining a light on insurance price increases is a small but useful gain for the public. A bigger gain will be to get private insurers out of the game so that "health care" $$$ are spent on actual health care.

In addition to “mistakenly” violating OR law with [yet another] excessive rate increase, Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield also is being “picked on” about the high salaries paid to its senior executives - representing 0.18 percent of all premiums last year. A publicly-funded universal health care system will allow these "health care" $$$ to be spent on actual health care. 
Read more.

Rate increases of up to 26% will raise insurance company profits, while continuing to restrict benefits for those insured. The 2010 ACA does provide some improvements in coverage, but without the needed cost control. The way to achieve cost control is to get profiteering (ie the private insurance indsutry) out of health care. 

Two national health insurance plans are on the way, at least one of which will be nonprofit. This progress is brought to us by the 2010 ACA legislation, aka Obamacare. THIS IS A BIG DEAL. It is most definitely not perfect, but is a significant step in the right direction.

Many single payer purists eschew "incremental progress". But incremental progress is [much] better than no progress, and we will continue to work for more encompassing change.
Read more.

ACA rules are posing a no-win financial challenge for this business and its 205 employees. Publicly-funded universal health care can unload this heavy $$ burden from businesses by putting the $400 billion/year now spent on excess administration and insurance industry profiteering into actual health care.