Wednesday, October 15, 2008

A Hobson's Choice in Health Care

Categories: Iowa

Iowa public employees currently can choose from among two companies. The governor off the state wants to take away one of those choices. He says that it will save taxpayer money but others say that it might mean that workers in rural areas will see a decline in the quality of their care.

The controversy points out one of the problems of tying insurance to employment. When it comes to buying auto insurance, life insurance, food, clothing, transportation or anything else, you take cash from your employer and buy it yourself from among a number of possible vendors. You're not limited to one or two hand-picked companies.

It's time to let employees have full control over how that money is spent, rather than being restricted to a Hobson's choice of one insurance company or even one plan.