re: #554 SteveMcGazi

Hate to say it, but the lady has a point. COB does not equal a tax break. You get tax breaks for operating in improvement districts, or by playing one state off against another, for example. But the premiums I pay are just part of the costs of labor. We never got a discount on our tax bill because we paid health insurance premiums for our employees.

Compensation and wages are a cost of business. Tax breaks for encouraging hiring and providing health benefits are not a cost of business. They reduce the cost of business. The tax breaks for providing health care benefits and other items are substantial and can reduce a corporation’s tax burden significantly (which improve’s the company’s bottom line).

You know what else is a cost of business - employees that are always sick and have to come in and get other employees sick, instead of being able to take paid time off and get well and get appropriate medical care before they cost even more to get well. Birth control fits into that as well - since pregnancies cost more towards health care costs of a self-insured company and reduce the woman’s output during and after pregnancy. Birth control would allow women to avoid pregnancy (if that’s their choice) on their terms so they can better plan on when they want to get pregnant instead of leaving it all to chance.