Podcast: Health Reform — Examining the Flaws of the Proposed “Free Rider” Employer Requirement Provision

This policy briefing features:

• Robert Greenstein, Executive Director, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
• Wade Henderson, Esq., President and CEO, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
• Robert Reischauer, President, Urban Institute

The speakers discuss an employer mandate proposal known as “free rider” that the Senate Finance Committee negotiators have agreed to include in forthcoming health reform legislation.  They also discuss alternative, better-designed approaches to an employer responsibility requirement, which is a necessary component of health care reform.

During the briefing, Robert Greenstein says, "[t]he so-called free rider proposal…would really cross a line we’ve never crossed before, and in my view, would violate basic American notions of equal opportunity."