[all_blue_chucks]

We should all care. Uber doesn't provide health insurance. Instead Uber drivers get their healthcare costs covered by the rest of us (either via ACA subsidies or written-off care provided to the uninsured).

[usaar333]

Making them employees doesn't give them health insurance. Only if they work over 30 hours a week, which Uber is highly incentived to cap.

Besides, what you are actually stating is that Uber riders should pay for Uber driver's health insurance, rather than the general population.

[all_blue_chucks]

Correct. Uber drivers should play by the same health insurance rules as other workers. And under today's laws that requires they become employees.

Ideally health insurance should be decoupled from employment status, but until then, we should all play by the same rules.

[usaar333]

Again, I'm not following. Even if Uber drivers became employees I don't see why they'd even get health insurance.

(This seems to be more about minimum wage, workers comp, UI, etc. which they would get)

[google234123]

So now uber drivers can only work 28 hours a week and now can't afford health care....

[labcomputer]

> Uber drivers get their healthcare costs covered by the rest of us

So what? People without jobs also get their healthcare covered by MediCal (with zero out of pocket expenses). Is that also a problem? Wouldn't it be better if we had universal healthcare?

[sudosysgen]

It would be better if we had universal healthcare, but that will not happen for, at the very least, 6 years. Meanwhile, Uber should not be allowed to undercut competitors by simply offloading costs to the common man.

[crazyjncsu]

Uber drivers pay taxes on earnings as contractors too. This at least partially covers ACA subsidies (if not fully).

And we subsidize employer-provided healthcare also, hence its existence.

[InitialLastName]

Employer-provided healthcare is a byproduct of WWII-era price-fixing that gave employers no way to compete on wages (so they started competing on benefits, including healthcare).

[crazyjncsu]

Yes, but we still subsidize it by allowing those earnings to be tax-free.