Most companies (and employees) consider this part of the compensation package.
In most cases there is not an avenue to recover any lost compensation if you opt out of health insurance. If an employer offered a higher base pay for those not on their insurance plan, you probably WOULD see a much higher rate of those securing their own plans in the open market.
Complaining about benefits would be a weird flex though. The alternative of not having employer tied is still available.
A more rational phrasing may be: "I can buy insurance isolated from my employment, but I am priveleged to have the benefit and OPTION of taking advantage of employer benefits."
Maybe. But with employer provided benefits that comes at a cost to the employer. Thats why its a benefit and a part of a compensation package. (IE: you work for us and we pay you x, give you x in retirement and subrogate x on these healthcare initiatives).
If i am freeing the employer of that burden....should that not reflect back on my compensation? Surely you dont mean the employer should then be able to save more and basically lower their compensation for employees and expect the same return?
There are plenty of packages on the open market that are generally better than what an employer offers. But you are essentially making extra sacrifices by opting out with no benefit to you and all the benefit of the company.
It would make more sense for a company to even offer a HSA where they contribute as much as they would to a plan to a savings account and allow the employee to also contribute their share pre-tax. And apply that to plans available on the open market.
Inflexibly benefit offerings are why I generally prefer structuring my employment as 'contractor' / B2B, but I realize many people are unable to structure their employment that way. You're right that it would be advantageous if total compensation were better understood so that employees and employer could negotiate what works for them.
>It would make more sense for a company to even offer a HSA where they contribute as much as they would to a plan to a savings account and allow the employee to also contribute their share pre-tax. And apply that to plans available on the open market.
In most cases there is not an avenue to recover any lost compensation if you opt out of health insurance. If an employer offered a higher base pay for those not on their insurance plan, you probably WOULD see a much higher rate of those securing their own plans in the open market.