Quote:
Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
IF, however, each person were provided with a $300 stipend (tax free) with which to purchase health insurace as part of their employment package, how many would use the full $300 for health care?
And if there were no obligation/expectation to pay that $300 stipend, how many more people would the employer hire, either part time or full time?
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$300 would work OK for the young and healthy with no kids, not so well for older people or people with families, particularly if anyone in their family were not healthy.
A lot of larger companies do structure things so that you have a choice between cash and benefits, though if you take cash it is taxed. However, most of these companies do not permit their employees to go coverage-free -- if they decline any health care, they are required to show they have other coverage. Perhaps such employers are overly paternalistic, perhaps they sense that their employee retention will be higher if people have health coverage.
Ask Wal-Mart re: that $300 thing. They have no doubt crunched the numbers.
