I know of no place that cites the taxes as a “benefit” or a main reason.

Health care was tied to employment as a means to attract workers. That’s it. The fact any of it is untaxed is at the whim of the government, not the employer. If anything the employer-based health care is a shackle, you lose your job or get fired you lose insurance.

I’m sure if enough people get kicked off employer health care or enough corpos say they’re no longer offering it the government will allow some sort of pre-tax or no-tax income allowance to individuals based on reported health insurance costs.

Maybe.