Health Care Costs: A Burden on Employers
The US is considered to be the most expensive and least efficient of all the developed nations when it comes to health care costs. In a comparison between sick adults from the US, Canada, Britain, Germany, Australia and New Zealand, it was found that health care in the US is the most likely to result in patient out-of-pocket expenses and higher treatment or medical care error rates.
This is bad news for employers who are already struggling against spiraling health coverage premiums. In 2007, increases in health insurance premiums outstripped the inflation rate by 100%, at a minimum of $4,479 annually per individual employee and $12,106 for family coverage. Coupled with this is the poor use of available resources, so it is more expensive to treat the sick.
Employers and Group Coverage
Employers are obliged to pay more for declining health care quality for their employees, half of whom choose to forgo medical treatment because it means they have to shell out for prescription medication or doctor visits not covered by their insurance. At least 1/3 of those who do get medical care say they encounter problems such as delays in test results or getting duplicate tests.
A Broken Health System’s Effects on Small Business
The little guys, businesses with less than nine employees, cope by reducing or eliminating health insurance for their workers. Since small employers account for a significant percentage of the labor force, that means more Americans have to rely on government-sponsored health care, which has also been in trouble far longer than employer-based health care coverage. Some small employers opt for high-deductible plans because they are usually cheaper. Larger companies go for health reimbursement accounts, a shrewd move considering that contributions that go to these accounts are usually tax-free for employees and can be used for a wider range of medical needs than standard heath coverage.
The funny thing is that most employees don’t really understand the extent of the burden the health coverage is for the employers. More than half believe that employers spend less than $3,000 for their health insurance premiums, rather than the upwards of $7,000 it really is in most regions and for most employers. Health insurance benefits are often poorly explained to employees, so many workers feel discontented with their coverage. If they knew how expensive it really is, they would probably appreciate it more, be better able to motivate their employees, and even take better care of themselves!
February 2nd, 2009 at 11:35 pm
I’m trying to find out why Anthem BCBS is calling me and telling me that I have been diagnosed with a heart problem and my doctor did not tell me. I live in Vt and I have never been diagnosed with any kind of heart problem. I am very upset and do not appreciate the phone call for that associate of BCBS. If I had a heart problem, I’m sure my doctor would have told me or I would have known if I had congestive heart failure. Someone should stop these phone calls. Thanks for your helfp