Posted on 12/07/2007 1:21:05 PM PST by Huntress
The end of employment-based health insurance isn’t in sight yet, but a study released this morning raises the possibility of a “tipping point” that will cause employers to consider alternatives.
The Employee Benefit Research Institute said that “if one larger employer actually did drop its health benefits, others might follow for competitive reasons.”
The report, published this morning on www.ebri.org, said work-based health insurance benefits, which are held by the majority of Americans who have health insurance, are still a competitive reason to attract employees.
(Excerpt) Read more at kansascity.com ...
If you are paying 50% they’ve got no right to bitch about your share. They have good benefits.
We pay 100%...we’re facing an 18% increase. But, we’ll pay it. Our employees see it as a great benefit. We just make it part of their compensation plan.
Is your health care plan a high deductible one? That’s what I would require IF I were to have employees....THEN, maybe, they’d learn what RESPONSIBILITY is!
Once upon a time we tried to set up a retirement IRA plan. Whenever we sent a distribution to the investment broker half of the employees would go there after work and cash out their benefits. They didn't care that they were paying penalties - They just wanted the cash.
I refuse to pay the govmint more than their fair share so the retirement plan went the way of the buffalo and now we all have great health care....
“Once they find out the cost of an individual policy, all but the most thick of them stop griping about my coverage.”
Same issues on my end. I use a HSA account and structured the plan to encourage them to be wise in their treatment choices. Wen people only have to pay the $20 copay they tend to go to the DR for every little sniffle. That drives up the cost.
Increase everyone’s deductable to $2000. Then, fund a health savings account of $2000 for each employee. You will end up avoiding the 18% increase and may even save money overall.
Professional society
Alumni association
Charitable/Fraternal organization
Credit Union Membership
Warehouse Store Membership
Then that would sever the tie between employment and health care without throwing people with pre-existing conditions to the wolves.
However, that just pushes the responsibility onto organizations that may have even fewer resources necessary to manage all of the paperwork associated with group health insurance.
MSA’s are the way to go. You get a high deductible plan and start a savings account to pay for everything under the deductible.
The deductible is $2000 per employee now, although they have discounts on doctor visits and prescriptions.
When we started coverage 15 years ago, after Hillary scared the heck out of all the insurers, the deductible was just $100 in an HMO. That’s the problem. Everybody was going to the doctor for a hangnail or a zit. Costs to our insurer skyrocketed.
Someone needs to blame Hillary for the rising costs, because employees began to think healthcare was free and took advantage of it all the time. The doctors/hospitals were charging out the wazoo, too.
A web search will show the EBRI closely associated with the RWJF (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation). These people have been pushing for nationalized health insurance/health care for years. This is exactly the kind of “sky is falling” propaganda they specialize in.
It’s not the employers or the employees fault here. It’s the insurance companies and the lawyers. Insurance companies are the richest organizations in the country.
I’ve looked into HSA plans, but so far haven’t found one that’s a good deal for my small group if I kick in part of my premium savings to each employee’s HSA. As they get more popular, I think that will change.
Yeah, business is booming until it comes time to talk about health insurance for workers. Then corporations start the on the edge of bankruptcy routine. The goal? To get Hillary and the rest of the gang to pass universal health care so the corporation won’t have to pay it anymore. Corporate interests are moving us towards socialism more quickly than government alone could ever hope to.
When we started coverage 15 years ago, after Hillary scared the heck out of all the insurers, the deductible was just $100 in an HMO. That’s the problem. Everybody was going to the doctor for a hangnail or a zit. Costs to our insurer skyrocketed.
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Bingo, people go to the physician for stupid reasons and they think it is free. We have great benefits and the only time I go is when I really need to, haven’t been since having my last child 5 years ago, with the exception of pap every 3 years.
But who really pays. Employer contributions to Social Security? What a farce.
You can go to the doctors office and pay a $20 deductible for a $100 visit, or pay $35-40 and not go under your plan and pay out of pocket.
We need to go strictly Health Savings Accounts. We also need to revamp the Electorial Process, and have Term Limits.
You will never see an insurance company go bankrupt like an oil, finance, car maker, or other industrial business.
At the time, doctor visits were free and prescriptions were $2.
Sounds like Nirvana to a socialist, doesn’t it?
But, everyone is paying the price now. Thanks to Hillary.
Actually, I think the biggest problem is that there are too many people who want something for nothing with respect to health care.
As a senior IT engineer, I could go somewhere else and expect more $$$ (likely quite a bit more....), but we have an exceptional package of bennies here.
My heathcare is pretty cheap, for one. Great 401k plan + profit-sharing plan, for another.
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