Comment by drewcoo

> Attaching medical insurance to one's job is a market distortion caused by government tax policy

Here in the US, FDR had a wage freeze as part of his policies [1] to deal with the continuing Great Depression that WWII had not stopped yet by 1942. Because of that, companies needed to get inventive about ways to increase benefits but not illegally increase wages. Companies started offering insurance plans.

That's where the employment/insurance coupling started.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stabilization_Act_of_1942