And they should consult an attorney, if they need to, because some employees have been asked to sign contracts that would not be valid under the laws of that state or that would be easily thrown out in court. So if there's any question as to whether they could engage in activity under the clause, they should consult with an attorney to see if, in the attorney's opinion, the clause would be upheld or to see what kind of risks they would be taking. Well, there's a different body of law on that. But I think a lot of the same considerations apply. It could also depend on the company's relationship with the health-care program in the first place.
Some companies contract with insurance providers.
A lot of these programs are pretty costly. But they may be the only route for someone who needs health-care coverage and can't otherwise get it. It's a similar case to severance. If the company has provided outplacement assistance for other employees and it doesn't provide it for a particular individual, then it runs the risk of facing some kind of discrimination suit for treating certain employees differently. So the company needs to honor what it has promised the employees through its personnel policies or through actual practice with previous employees.