[rayiner]

When you adjust for demographics, American education is as good as any system in western Europe, and by and large middle of the spectrum families can be assured that their local public school will at least not be a complete disaster.

The same isn't true for healthcare. This bizarre system of tying your healthcare to your job means even middle and high income families don't have any peace of mind when it comes to healthcare. Heck, my wife and I are a high income couple and have expensive health insurance, and we are still completely paranoid about all the ways the insurers could find to screw us over, especially now that we're about to have a baby. Every time my wife goes to a pre-natal visit, she ends up fighting with the insurer about how something was coded, etc.

[twoodfin]

If you don't mind my asking, what's your health plan? I'm on a Blue Cross Blue Shield of MA PPO and couldn't be happier. It's indeed very expensive, but considering what my family has gotten out of it with essentially 0 hassles, I have no grounds for complaint. Essentially everything's covered, even out to some wacky stuff like acupuncture. I can walk into a specialist's office at a world class hospital with no referral for a $20 copay. During at least two health crises, they've reached out to make sure care was being coordinated properly.

Sorry that this sounds like an ad, but we don't all live in fear of our health plans. (I dislike the term "insurer", since what they sell stopped behaving like insurance a long time ago.)

[astrodust]

What does "very expensive" mean in this context?

[twoodfin]

Don't quote me, but something like $1000/month for employee +1 coverage. Of that, ~30% comes out of my paycheck and is tax deductible. Not to put too fine a point on it: $300/mo pretax is a steal. Even assuming the full cost would, IMHO, be reasonable. $12,000 sounds like a lot but I suspect that BCBS is doing more for me in real terms right now than the Federal government to which I hand over the equivalent of a mid-range Mercedes in income tax every year.

[astrodust]

It doesn't just sound like a lot. It is a lot.

Even with the "high income" surcharge here for health-care, it's less than $1000 a year for an individual. Since it's deducted from your income along with regular payroll taxes, you don't even have to pay for dependents. They're covered under their own plan which is basically free until they start earning and paying deductions of their own.

In a start-up environment, $12,000 a year is not a lease on a Mercedes, it's the difference between your business floundering in obscurity and affording a few key networking trips, or the difference between living in a bedbug infested hellhole or having a decent apartment.

[twoodfin]

Where's "here"?

[astrodust]

Here meaning Ontario: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario_Health_Insurance_Plan

There are private insurance plans for exceptional circumstances, but these often over-lap with other policies to such a degree they're basically a luxury offered by companies to entice workers. The only real perk to them is the dental and optical coverage that isn't covered by the standard health-care system.