Just imagine it: your employer has a contract with a grocery store. You go in, you pay your twenty dollar co-pay, and then you get to take whatever you want. You’d probably go home with a lot more groceries and you wouldn’t skimp on the luxuries: why get hot dogs when you can have lobster? And from the grocery store’s point of view, it would have no incentive to keep prices down. Your plan is paying the bill. Pretty soon they might get so high that people without employer-provided food plans could no longer afford to eat. They’d call Congress, demand universal food coverage.
This American Life and Planet Money on why employer-based health insurance is a bad idea. Definitely worth a listen. Plus, “Act Three: Insurance? Ruh Roh!” on pet insurance is absolutely fascinating.
