Hey, it turns out lots of people like Hillary's universal health care now.

http://slate.msn.com/id/2099036/

Capitalists for Hillarycare
Look who's supporting universal health care now.
By Daniel Gross
Posted Friday, April 16, 2004, at 1:21 PM PT


The American health care system, a patchwork of government-provided benefits overlaid on a voluntary system of private-sector coverage, is a case study in economic inefficiency. Companies that provide health care to employees put themselves at a competitive disadvantage to competitors—domestic and foreign—that don't. And because uninsured people frequently receive care—from the government or hospitals—those who pay for health care are essentially subsidizing those who don't.

In the early 1990s, big business largely opposed Hillary Clinton's ill-conceived effort to establish a government-run universal health insurance plan. But over the past several years—and especially in the past year—large corporations, and the trade groups that speak for them, have been subtly changing their tune.

The first hint of change was Big Business's embrace of the Medicare prescription drug benefit. At the time, Moneybox noted that the Big Three auto companies, with their large unionized workforces and huge numbers of retired employees, would be among the largest beneficiaries of a greater government role in providing health care.

That interest in more government health care is spreading from automakers to other manufacturers. In December, a study released by two business establishment trade groups, the Manufacturers Alliance and the National Association of Manufacturers, found that when it came to structural costs—environmental compliance, taxes, and employee benefits—American companies pay more compared to many foreign competitors. Structural costs add 22.4 percent to the cost of doing business in the United States—more than in Canada, Britain, or South Korea. The largest single structural cost borne by the American private sector is health care. The clear implication: Unless society (read: the government) does something to relieve manufacturers of their health-care burden, the sector will suffer further.
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So where's laissez faire in all of this?