It’s important not to let this contraception clash pass without understanding the true source of the problem. It’s not President Obama’s debauched liberal drive to shower teens with condoms and morning-after pills. It’s not the bishops’ urge to enforce a moral code from which most of their flock dissents. A sane America would never deny women who work for Catholic employers access to the contraception that every other health plan offers — but it also wouldn’t force Catholic employers to offer coverage that violates their beliefs. Instead, a sane America would solve this whole problem by moving into the 21st century and making sure people can buy group health coverage on their own and not tied to their employers.
The missing contraception question - The Washington Post Wouldn’t removing the cost of providing employees’ health care make it cheaper for businesses to hire? More jobs! (via swirlspice)
Well… probably not. Businesses don’t have to provide health insurance now; when they do, it’s because they are competing with each other for employees, and offering insurance makes them more attractive to potential employees. Healthy employees are an added benefit; and of course some employers just believe it’s the right thing to do, and hooray for them. But mostly it’s because most people would rather enroll in group health insurance than have to buy it individually in the existing market. If you have a choice between a job with insurance and one without it, you’ll probably take the insurance!
If health insurance were decoupled from employment, employers would still be competing with each other for employees; and employees would still need to buy health insurance. And so a likely way for this to play out is that employers would take the money they’re putting into health insurance and convert it into higher salaries. No new jobs!
But it’s still a great idea. When you think about it, it’s just kind of bizarre that your health care is tied to your choice of employment. It makes it harder to leave a job you don’t like, and harder to start your own business. And as Matt Miller points out, it is why we have political tempests like the current one. If you could choose your own insurance, people who work for Catholic employers and want birth control coverage would just get it, and we wouldn’t have to argue about who’s being “forced” to pay for what.
(via swirlspice)
