The Hobby Lobby Decision Would Never Have Happened with Single Payer Health Care: Guest Says Employer-Based Health Insurance Is a Bad System

Today on Radioactivity we take another look at the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision from the perspective of a medical doctor who says our system of relying on employers for health care is a failure.

Earlier this week the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government could not require closely held corporations to pay for insurance coverage for certain kinds of contraception under the Affordable Care Act. Five justices- all men- ruled that it violated a federal law protecting religious freedom. Conservatives have embraced the decision because they say it expands religious liberty while many others have criticized it because of the power it gives corporations and the protection it takes away from employees.

Rob Lorei speaks with Elizabeth Rosenthal, M.D. who is a critic of Monday’s Supreme Court decision. She is a dermatologist and assistant clinical professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. She is an executive board member of the NY Metro chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program.