So why is the employer's health/dental plan such a significant issue for jobseekers? Fact is that many people *need* the benefits of an employer's socialized scheme because of pre-existing conditions, cost of singleton policies, lack of negotiating muscle if it's you vs the insurer... socializing is the typical response to protect against the powerful and their expediencies.

Back in 2002, Andy and I took full time permanent staff positions with a company whose health insurance was really crappy compared to what we had with our own company. Plus, we did not know how long we would stay with the company. Since we were not taking the benefit, we negotiated a higher salary instead since the company would not have the added expense of paying for 75% of our health insurance.