What role did industrialization and the Great Depression play in the origin of legally required benefits?

DUE DATE: FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2022, AT 11:00 P.M. CDT (Columbia campus time)
For this homework assignment we will begin studying Chapter 10 Legally Required Benefits which account for 7.9% (2017) (15.6% due to Obamacare) of the total compensation cost for employers. Due to the high cost, employers may have to cut other compensation in order to meet the legal requirements.
It is important for us to understand the history and development of legally required benefits and the potential challenge that they can pose to employers in developing their compensation policies and practices.
Certainly 2020 and 2021 proved to be times when employers and employees were relying heavily upon these legally required benefits to help bridge the gap from quickly going from full employment to millions of workers losing their jobs contributing to massive unemployment. The situation has changed in 2022. Millions of employees are quitting their jobs and this leaves many jobs unfilled. This now presents a totally new challenge to employers.
Read Chapter 10 and answer the following:
1. Obama Care (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) requires employers with 50 or more employees to offer health insurance for their employees which moved health care benefits from being a discretionary benefit to a legally required benefit. According to your text, how much did it increase the amount of legally required benefits? When was it implemented?
Information about Obamacare (Affordable Care Act, ACA): Obamacare was enacted into law in 2010 and was to be phased in from 2010-2015. In 2014 the individual mandate became effective. This mandate required that individuals have insurance coverage of pay a penalty to the IRS. This mandate remained in effect form 2014-2018. It was highly unpopular and, as a result, became an ongoing legal issue. Past-President Trump opposed ACA and worked to repeal it. Congress did repeal the individual mandate penalty in 2018 which became effective in 2019. Legislators then argued that without the penalty, the individual mandate was not effective and that ACA should be ruled unconstitutional. Various courts ruled but ultimately the Supreme Court decided to hear the case in 2020 and in February 2021 ruled that it is constitutional because the penalty was really a tax and that the U.S. Constitution gives the government the power to collect taxes. Some states have instituted their own individual mandate and penalty: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, California, and District of Colombia.
2. What role did industrialization and the Great Depression play in the origin of legally required benefits? Prepare a three paragraph response to this question in order to expand on the Great Depression’s impact and compare and contrast to what is happening in the US today.
3. Name and list components of the four categories of legally required benefits.
4. The following legally required benefits are funded by employer and/or employee. Briefly list the breakdown (% and responsible party) for each of the following:
a. Workers’ Compensation
b. FUTA (Federal Unemployment Tax Act)
c. FMLA
d. Social Security
e. Medicare
f. Obamacare
5. Companies contract with insurance companies to cover health-related expenses incurred by their employees. Explain the difference between the following types of plans which are available:
a. Indemnity plan
b. Self-funded plan
6. Fee-for-service health plans generally have the following stipulations. Explain each.
a. Deductible d. Coinsurance f. Out-of-pocket maximum
b. Copay e. Pre-existing condition
c. Lifetime maximum (how was it affected by Obamacare?)
7. Explain the following two laws which influence employer health care offerings: COBRA,HIPPA

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