HB 628: Paid family and medical leave
SurPRISE! Yet another Op-Ed in the Concord Monitor genuflecting at the Altar of Big Govt: “Pray, give us this “benefit” even as we could do it ourselves? Once again, supplication from one whose industry very well could be sucking at yet another teat of Government (you know, the medical part of Family and MEDICAL Leave Insurance system). Golly, who’d a thunk that a past Prez of the NH Medical Society would be holding out the tip jar? Notice how he starts out with the “gifting” part first – who DOESN’T want a brand new goody (especially of the lion’s share of the cost comes from others) (reformatted, emphasis mine). Just like Steve Duprey, here’s the hand on the take right off the bat:
Creating a family and medical leave insurance system would ensure workers the benefits they need and help businesses of all sizes be more competitive. More than 100 New Hampshire businesses, including Concord Hospital, have signed a letter asking our lawmakers to pass HB 628.
That’s right, give me some of that old time religion Govt money!
These employers understand the challenges facing an employee with a dying parent, a critically ill child, a family member ravaged by substance abuse or parents welcoming a new baby into their family.
The local businesses that gathered for a panel discussion of HB 628 at Grappone Toyota in Bow last week joined with the 82 percent of Granite Staters who would like to see the creation of “paid family leave.” Benefits would be available for up to 12 weeks per year and cover 60 percent of an individual’s weekly wage. An actuarial study conducted for the Department of Employment Security concluded that the benefits and administrative expenses for the program would cost an average of $5/week per employee (0.5% payroll deduction). Employers have the option, but are not required to contribute.
And you all would be included!
California, New Jersey and Rhode Island presently have similar programs which have been successful. The New Hampshire Medical Society strongly endorses this bill. Our nation is one of only a few developed countries in the world that does not have legislation providing paid family and medical leave. People in those countries with these benefits are healthier and live longer than us. Remarkably, their health care costs are half of what we spend per person in the U.S. To those who feel we can’t afford paid family leave, I would argue that we can’t afford not to provide paid family leave. A healthier future for communities surely rests on this wise investment.
(Dr. Oge Young is past president of the New Hampshire Medical Society.)
“Creating a family and medical leave insurance system would ensure workers the benefits they need and help businesses of all sizes be more competitive.” Really?
Benefits used to be voluntarily offered by companies above and beyond what one receives as a salary or wage (that is, until Government decided to mandate them as with Obamacare). And in this case, the legislation MANDATES that employees take part (a la Obamacare) – where’s the Live Free or Die choice in that?
Further, if this was such a lovely idea to make businesses “more competitive”, wouldn’t they already be offering it to their employees, Doc Young? Right? Wrong – it hasn’t taken off because it hasn’t proven itself to make those companies more competitive. Why else would all these companies beseeching (aka, rent-seeking) that Government run and administer such a program? To my mind, that’s nothing more than a free ride.
Besides, if this were to go through and all companies had it, how would it make them “more competitive”? After all “if everyone is special, then no one is special”, right? All we’d end up with is a bigger and more expensive Government. Worst case, doc, we could end up with yet another Retirement system pension problem. NH can’t even get a handle on that $5-6 Billion problem and you want to start another program?
No, let Government get its own act together and if those 100 companies want to really this program, how about letting them voluntarily get together in an association and run it themselves? Is there really anything preventing them from doing this all in the private sector? No, of course not – its nothing but an up-shifting cost from businesses to Government. And if it fails, we taxpayers are on the hook for it.
