My car insurance, life insurance, and house insurance is not offered through my employer. Why is my health insurance?
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The reason is rooted in our business and labor history. The history is complicated, but here's a quick outline of the specific point you are asking about. Back in the early part of the 20th century--especially the era of 'welfare capitalism" it was common for companies to offer a range of benefits to workers--and this included early forms of health insurance. Companies did this because it helped them retain skilled workers--and reduced incentives for labor activism/unrest. When the Depression of the 1930s hit, however, companies cut these benefits--including health insurance. That had become one of the most popular benefits--for the same reasons it s so well liked by employees today. Wnen--starting in the late thirties, labor organizing rose to unprecedented levels and the great labor movement tha tcontinued well into the 1950s got underway, one of the main things unions pushed for was health insurance as a job benefit. In addition, following WW2 and the return of economic prosperity, it became common again for many companies even non-union ones--to offer health insurance, at least to the extent of making group insurance available at a discount. Life insurance was another of the early 20th century benefits that was common. It never got the emphasis that health insurance did--but many plans, even today, do carry a life insurance benefit as part of the health insurance package. Car insurance simply was never a big deal until after WW2--so it never played into this historical trend. Nor did home insurance. In that regard, company benefits during the welfare capitalism era usually included company-provided housing at reduced rents, if any such benefits were provided. The main point is that the whole idea of linking health insurance to employment emerged out of this history--and the other kinds simply didn't have the same kind of background.
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