Regardless as to why the rates are high your friend needs a solution. My wife does benefits for our school district and our rates are wayyyyyyyy lower then that for incredible bennies.
It would be cheaper for him to just offer cash to cover the employee buying their own plan like contractors for the USPS are required to do. Or if I was him I would get into a group or consortium that buys insurance as a group. I did this years ago through OOIDA. There are probably half a dozen solutions unless he is bound by some collective bargaining agreement with employees.

USPS contractors are required to provide their employees with health care and pension. They can opt to give the employees the actual benefits or a set pretaxed amount so the employee can get their own. The employee may decide to take a lessor coverage and pocket the difference or if their spouse already has available coverage just pocket the money and pay the tax.

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"If I only had three words of advice, they would be, Tell the Truth. If got three more words, I'd add, all the time."
— Randy Pausch

After trying to understand why health insurance costs are so high and going higher I think I finally know why.
The reason came to me when I could no sleep last night and turned on Red Eye radio. A caller said that his son was born 2 months premature and spent the first week of his life in the neo natal unit of the hospital. The doctor's bill alone was $45,000. He said he was fortunate to have health insurance which covered it.
But if he did not have health insurance the doctor could not charge $45,000 because no one could pay it and the doctor would be out of business. Impoverished patients without insurance are still treated but pay nothing.
When I was a kid everyone I knew was poor and no one had health insurance. Doctor and hospital fees were reasonable.
So health insurance forces health costs up. The solution seems to me is to control reimbursement as in the medicare plan.

The problem with the health care system needs to be fixed where the most greed and damage is done. Where all the insurance related problems start. That is the Judicial System! there needs to be some type of rational control over the thousands of frivilious lawsuits being brought by greedy, self-serving people. The judges are finding in favor of these fortune seekers, with their multi-million dollar lawsuits, way too often. when the insurance companies have to pay out millions of dollars to these shysters, guess who gets to pay the bill?
Of course, the insurance companies are not blameless. But they are in business to make money.( they take the risks, they should reap the rewards) Hospitals, doctors, specialists are actually the end of the money line. look at their payouts for Insurance, supplies, and compensation. before we begin pointing the finger (which seems to be the American Way) at who's responsible, let's look at the whole problem, not just the end product.

This is the kind of argument I relate to, Willard. It's an objective view of what's really happening. We need to stand back and dismiss the things we hate or fear (Obama, socialism, democratic spending - the list goes on) and SEE why things are going wrong. Then we can do something about it.

That being said, I agree with you about frivolous lawsuits and the fact that they are being decided in favor of the victims to the tune of millions of dollars. That money comes from all of us, just like the bailout money and the first time homeowner incentives and the free cellphones and the foreign aid. The people getting something for nothing have to start contributing to society (or just pay it back) at some point or not get it anymore. Very simple. It's OK for us to help out with the necessities when natural disasters happen or when people find themselves in a jam through no fault of their own. I DON'T believe that we are responsible for providing luxuries to people who haven't earned them.

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Don't ever take my kindness as weakness, believe me when I say that.

Who is John Mayer?

A singer who wrote a book about his sexual exploits with well-known actresses. Looking for money at someone else's expense.

I hope he has good health care!

Sad health care story

Distraught man in suicide plunge from luxury high-rise - NYPOST.com

Comon daisy,this man had some type of mental problems, or other issues that made him jump, not his mothers situation. plus this woman lived in Greece of all places and has nothing to do with the topic in this section. This is certainly a tragic occurance, but it has nothing to do with health care in the US.

Please read more with more comprehension:

"She had no medical insurance, the bills were mounting, and a lien was put on his house."

Read more: Distraught man in suicide plunge from luxury high-rise - NYPOST.com

I took your advice to read more and I did! it states:

No doubt this guy had a mental problem but his mother's medical bills pushed him over the edge.

Obama care would not have helped since it would not take effect for five years.

Obamacare is a band-aide that we will pay more for, it does not addressing the root cause of the problem.
-or-
Is Obamacare an effort to protect the lower class since the middle class is dissolving into the lower because there is no manufacturing base in the states? Perhaps "O" is getting ready for the "NWO"

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