William M. Thomas: “I think the usual argument is that, after all, it is a continuation of our current system. I think, as the President…”

“I think the usual argument is that, after all, it is a continuation of our current system. I think, as the President said, "That is where most people get their health care now." However, the points the gentlewoman has just made, I think, need to be brought into crystal-clear alignment, so that everyone understands why we are opposed to an employer mandate. Under the current system most Americans get their health care at the workplace, but it is under a voluntary arrangement between the employer and the employee. Some employers pay 50 percent, some pay 60, some pay 70, some pay 80, some pay 100 percent, but whatever it is that the employer pays, it comes out of either a collective bargaining structure or negotiation between the employer and the employee, if it is not a union arrangement. It is not, as the gentlewoman indicated, a mandated 80 percent or a particular benefits package. How did we get into the situation in which the employer got to deduct the costs of health care? It has been there ever since 1913, when the income tax went into effect, but most people agree that World War II was the time when health benefits from employers expanded enormously.”