Big Brother or Big Opportunity?

I've been reading a few articles recently about legislation aimed at requiring employers to provide benefits to all of their employees, like this one from SHRM:

http://www.shrm.org/hrnews_published/CMS_019519.asp#P-11_0

At first, it seemed a little "heavy handed" to me, that Big Brother was dictating what an employer should do. Maybe so. After further consideration, though, I started thinking, why wouldn't an employer, who wants to grow profits, get maximum productivity out of their employees and lower turnover not use benefits as an attractor & retainer? I know it can be challenging, cost-wise, for very small businesses to offer benefits, but there are so many programs out there, including Health Savings Accounts & High Deductible Health Plans, that the monthly outlay can really be manageable.

One solution for an employer is to consider partnering with an HR outsourcing firm or Professional Employer Organization (PEO) that provides benefits as part of their offering. Besides getting affordable health insurance pricing, since these companies are pooling several hundered or thousand employers together, there are the added benefits of HR expertise, training, liability protection, payroll processing, and in some cases, Workers Compensation coverage. Some feel that providing benefits is a necessary evil, in order to be competitive. That's certainly true today, and it also provides an opportunity for the employer to develop loyalty and a company culture that breeds top performers who stick around, since they're being given access to benefits, formerly only available to larger companies. HROs & PEOs level the playing field in many ways - providing an employer with the affordable benefits they may need to have (legally). Yes, Big Brother is out there, and many of us just want to make up our own minds about what's best for our company, but maybe it's a wake up call/opportunity for the small employer to see that they have some pretty good options when complying with this new legislation. Options that will pay dividends long term.