system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why is American healthcare dependent on a job?

Why is american healthcare directly tied to jobs and work?

Being from Australia i realise that we have universal healthcare, but since i was 18 i've been paying for private health insurance (maybe 800 a year?. It has nothing to do with who im working for or what career im in and i pay for what ever package happens to suit me. Why isn't there something similar to that over there? Why does it have to be something to do with your job?

Is it possible but just too expensive? Cause to me it just sounds absurd when i hear about companies knocking back claims because of stupid shit..
gpt
During WWII the US instituted a wage freeze which didn't allow employers to raise wages.  It was an effort to support the war.  So employers had to find other ways of getting good employees, so they started offering benefits, particularly healthcare benefits.  Once the war ended it just became common practice to offer healthcare as an employer here.