Mandatory healthcare benefits are states’ legislations that cover essential treatment and help citizens, employers, and care providers evaluate insurance costs. Beller’s article (2014) discusses the coverage for substance abuse issues in New York. The author claims that the current selection of specific medical services is hazardous for the city’s insurance and business and offers alternatives (Beller, 2014). This paper aims to review the article and discuss the considerable factors for establishing mandatory benefits.
Many Americans receive healthcare insurance from the workplace, and the mandatory benefits are critical for them. Beller (2014) argues that although insurance is essential for citizens, small employers cannot afford it, and the treatment included in it is not relevant to the actual healthiness of the New Yorkers. The article contains opinions of medical care providers, legislators, policyholders, and each sees a different issue with the current mandatory insurance offering.
Indeed, the Health Insurance Association representative stated to Beller (2014) that “one appealing facet of employer-mandated benefits is that they seemingly extend the protection of society’s safety net without raising taxes” (p. 42). The main questions raised by Beller are if the current selection of the benefits is cost-efficient and how it can be modified for the profit of all involved institutions.
The demand in providing insurance creates several indirect benefits mentioned in Beller’s article as the opportunities for employees to decrease their healthcare costs. For instance, mandated coverage can save money for insurance companies because, based on substance abuse disease, paying out for consequences is more expensive than helping citizens treat the primary illness (Beller, 2014). Another benefit is that the companies offering healthcare benefits are more attractive for future employees and the government. Moreover, the indirect advantage of the system is that it motivates people to get healthcare more frequently and supports the medical industry.
Determination of the benefits to select and offer as mandated depends on several crucial factors, such as a state’s disease rates, economy, and demand for specific treatment. Beller (2014) emphasized that “the priority should be on cost control, not on further expansion of the health care system” (p. 43).
The article considers the profit for insurance providers and New York companies’ capabilities as a critical factor for forming benefits to offer. Besides, mandated healthcare insurance needs to be estimated through wages and taxes an average employee earns and pays (Cardon & Showalter, 2018). Considering these factors, Cardon and Showalter (2018) claim that “a firm can choose to pay their workers in some combination of cash wages and health insurance” (p. 368). Beller’s article (2014) supports a similar strategy, and adds an opinion that selection of mandates to include must cover at least the basics such as emergency services.
I plan to develop a business, thus the question of insurance will occur during the hiring process. I support mandatory healthcare benefits as personal well-being is a critical demand, and an individual will not be capable of working properly if their needs in health and safety are not addressed. Moreover, the indirect advantage of included insurance is that a job becoming more valuable would attract more candidates, and the company would be respectfully perceived (Beller, 2014). Mandatory benefits are expensive, however, it is proven that their absence does not decrease disease rates, and the inability to afford treatment severely influences people’s health (Beller, 2014). I care about the overall national well-being and think that the selection of conditions to receive mandate coverage needs improvement, but canceling the regulation is unacceptable.
References
Beller, M. D. (2014). Mandated benefits, good or bad? At N.Y. hearing, reviews are mixed. Insurance Advocate, 125(19), 42–43. Web.
Cardon, J. H., & Showalter, M. H. (2018). Wages, health insurance benefits, and worker sorting under asymmetric information. International Journal of the Economics of Business, 25(3), 367-390. Web.