[AnimalMuppet]

The money belongs to the employees? Only if you mean that the employer buys the health-insurance plan with money that would otherwise go to the employee as salary. (I presume that you are not saying that the company's money rightfully belongs to the employees. If you are saying that, I disagree, strongly.)

But it gets muddied because of taxes. Most people get to pay for their health insurance pre-tax, whereas if the company just gave them the money, they'd pay for it with post-tax dollars. Also, many employees contribute some of the cost themselves. So it's fair to say that part of the money belongs to the employees, but it's not fair to say that all of it does. The rest belongs either to the employer or the government.

[AnimalMuppet]

Argh. Also, many employers contribute some of the cost themselves. (Though one could argue that the employee could have had that part as salary...)