m this burden, Congress devised a federal
             tax law that would enable employees to obtain tax
             benefits for health insurance through their employers.
             Today, the vast majority of insured Americans acquire
             their health insurance through the workplace. ERISA
             governs the employer-based health system to protect
             employees from the potential abuses from their health
             plans (Amer. Psych. Assc.). Although both the tax
             code and ERISA were concocted to help and protect
             employees, they play an indirect role in shaping the
             inefficiencies that envelop the employer-based system
             of health care. Subsequently, regulations imposed by
             managed care organizations (MCO) on physicians also
             Under today's tax code, Americans can receive a
             discount on health insurance, granted that they attain
             it through an employer. The reason for this stems
             from a single provision of the Internal Revenue Code,
             "which excludes employer premiums from the employee's
             taxable income" (Goodman). This means that health
             benefits provided by insurers are exempted from an
             individual's earnings, treating them as if they were
             expendable to the actual income. This tax alleviation
             "can reduce the cost of health insurance by 30 percent
             or more for an average-income family" (Goodman). By
             calculation, "an extra dollar of earnings can be used
             to buy a dollar's worth of health insurance as an
             alternative to 70 cents of take-home pay" (Goodman).
             In contrast, individuals who purchase their own health
             insurance receive no tax benefits; therefore, most
             employees choose to join their employer-based health
             Many employers want to ensure that their workers have
             good access to health care so that they are more
             likely to stay healthy. Despite having to provide
             health insurance for their employees, employers also
             have to worry about the competition in the market.
             Because of this add...