What benefits should businesses be forced to provide employees?

The Hobby Lobby decision issued Monday by the U.S. Supreme court has the nation in a frenzy. The decision protecting employers from being required to provide contraceptives is limited in scope, applying only to closely held/family-owned for-profit businesses. This is not applicable to publicly traded businesses. Further, not-for-profit organizations were not addressed in this opinion.

 

This decision did not change or alter IL state statutes and/or mandates regarding contraceptives. Those mandates in Illinois have been in place since January 1, 2004 and will have to be challenged in state court. The Illinois state mandates “require all individual and group insurance and health maintenance organizations (HMO) policies that provide coverage for outpatient services and outpatient prescription drugs or devices, [to] provide coverage for all outpatient contraceptive drugs or devices approved by the FDA”.

 

So what do you think? Should businesses, specifically small, locally owned businesses be required by law to provide coverage for birth control, or for that matter, any other specific drug? Or should it be the business owners right to decide what they want to offer, and the employees decision if they want to work there or not based on what benefits are offered?