> the difficulty of providing insurance for employees is hardly even discussed here around HN
That's not my impression of HN! It comes up fairly regularly, and is cited as a problem by a number of startup founders. Among others, tptacek has mentioned in a few threads that providing founders/employees with healthcare is a significant problem for early-stage, small companies, especially for bootstrappers, and for people trying to freelance (it becomes easier if you're large-ish, where you can negotiate a group plan).
I suppose it's a political comment in the sense that anything in this space is political, but my personal interest is just in somehow being able to work for myself while also having health coverage. I'd like to move back to the US at some point for cultural/family reasons, and the problems with the individual-insurance market are one of the things holding me back at the moment. I hardly care which kinds of politics fix that problem, as long as a fix of some kind appears...
Among others, tptacek has mentioned in a few threads that providing founders/employees with healthcare is a significant problem for early-stage, small companies, especially for bootstrappers, and for people trying to freelance (it becomes easier if you're large-ish, where you can negotiate a group plan).
Since this discussion is primarily about entrepreneurialism in Europe, I'll note that most, if not all, of the major economies in Europe have socialised healthcare systems. There are also, at least in the UK, various rules that apply to employers in general but have built-in limitations or outright exceptions for businesses with only a small number of people.
There certainly are hurdles to taking on new staff here, but often it's more about getting rid of employees rather than day-to-day overheads while they're employed. In particular, the difficulty of firing even someone who is severely underperforming is notorious in many of these economies, which makes the risk of taking someone on in the first place proportionately greater.
But don't you think my other examples (finding capital, good managers, compensation schemes, entrepreneurial spirit, government regulation) are all more discussed? Again, it's not a non-issue; it's just that if you cite this as your major concern, you're either an unusual case or just want to talk politics.
That's not my impression of HN! It comes up fairly regularly, and is cited as a problem by a number of startup founders. Among others, tptacek has mentioned in a few threads that providing founders/employees with healthcare is a significant problem for early-stage, small companies, especially for bootstrappers, and for people trying to freelance (it becomes easier if you're large-ish, where you can negotiate a group plan).
I suppose it's a political comment in the sense that anything in this space is political, but my personal interest is just in somehow being able to work for myself while also having health coverage. I'd like to move back to the US at some point for cultural/family reasons, and the problems with the individual-insurance market are one of the things holding me back at the moment. I hardly care which kinds of politics fix that problem, as long as a fix of some kind appears...