Cafeteria benefits may be too expensive because of what the insurance industry refers to as "adverse selection". In other words the people most likely to purchase a benefit are those who are most likely to utilize that benefit. Example: Insurer offers to a given group the opportunity to purchse maternity coverage. The employees or group members who take advantage of the coverage are the ones of birthing age and a plan to have children. The insurance concept of "spreading the risk" therefore does not apply, and the coverage would cost almost as much as having a child without coverage. In a typical plan the risk of having to pay for maternity coverage is spread over the entire group, including those unlikely to utilize it, thus spreading the risk and keeping the individual costs down.