Re: Of course the companies like it
I think if you read the article a little more carefully the grant is to allow local authorities to set up groups that will provide the benefits - not that the government will pay them (because in this political climate that is a non starter).
The issue in the US is that most people, no matter how much money they earn, cannot buy "group" health insurance or contract with agencies to pay unemployment insurance etc. It would similar to the Freelancers Union set up in NYC a few years ago which just allows self employed people to band together to buy their own benefits as a group.
Of course the bigger issue is (as you say) socializing of benefits while privatizing profits - where walmart underpays their workers and helps them to claim food stamps, and the absurd tying of health benefits to employment which stifles job mobility and risk taking at a time when those should be encouraged. ACA went a small way to addressing some of the minor issues, but nothing apart from single-payer will fix the cobbled together mess that is the US healthcare "system".