Essentials of Health Policy and Law 2nd Edition by Joel Teitelbaum,Sara Wilensky

Exercise 1

Most people in this country obtain health insurance through employer-sponsored plans. Although the historical background you just read explains why this occurred, it does not discuss whether this is a good or bad thing. Is our reliance on employer-sponsored health insurance ideal for individuals? Providers? Employers? Society? What are the benefits and drawbacks to having employers as the primary source of health insurance? How different are the benefits and drawbacks when considered from various stakeholder perspectives? Would it be better to have more federal government involvement in providing health insurance? What primary policy goal would you use to decide how to answer these questions?