Hemant Mehta has gotten to the heart of the issue in one debate about the Affordable Care Act and the question of whether employers can be required by law to provide health insurance that covers things an employers disapproves of.
It is the same question as whether an employer can be required by law to pay a salary in money that can be used to purchase things the employer disapproves of. The answer, of course, is yes. The alternative – allowing employers to decide what employees can and cannot spend their money on – is a serious blow at the freedoms that most Americans hold dear. Any decision that allows employers to decide for employees what they can use their salaries or benefits for would have enormous implications.
It comes down to the question of the rights and freedoms of employees. If they aren’t protected, then heaven help us.
This is an important issue, particularly as those who want to allow employers to curtail employees’ rights are saying that it is their own religious freedom that is in jeopardy!
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