Underemployment and Health Care Benefits

I was talking the other night with someone about my not having health insurance on my job. I also spoke about the lack of good employment opportunities in my area, especially jobs with benefits.

It seems as if many employers would rather overwork fewer employees than employ sufficient people to get the job done while working a normal 40 hour week. I believe one of the biggest reasons for this is to avoid having to pay benefits to more people. The result is that available work is not distributed evenly. Some people are overworked, and many more are either underemployed (having jobs with no benefits and/or insufficient hours) or unemployed.

A national health insurance program that isn't tied to a person's employment seems as if it would go a long way toward lessening this problem. It would take the monkey off the backs of employers, which would presumably make them more likely to hire more full time workers.

What I don't get is why more major corporations do not support a national health care system, similar to what works in Canada and Europe, as it would take a financial burden off them, while allowing them to hire more employees. Surely, such support would make it easier for such legislation to be enacted and implemented.

Thoughts?