Ever since World War II, health insurance has been tied to employment. The recent evolution away from that is the subject of a forum at the Brookings Institution on May 2.

According to the official announcement, "On May 2, The Hamilton Project will host a policy seminar on a proposal from Stuart Butler of the Heritage Foundation to move toward universal coverage by evolving beyond the traditional model of employer-sponsored health insurance. Butler proposes three areas of reform: 1) create state-chartered insurance exchanges to offer portable health plans; 2) transform employers into facilitators of health care coverage, rather than sponsors; and 3) reform the tax treatment of health care to give state exchanges the same tax exemptions enjoyed by the current employer-based system."