[webstersII]

“just stop offering it and compensate their employees commensurately.”

Why stop offering it if they still have to pay for it? That makes no sense.

They want to reduce their costs, not keep their costs up.

[CertainInalienableRights]

Why stop offering it if they still have to pay for it? That makes no sense.

They want to reduce their costs, not keep their costs up

Generally speaking, the high costs of insurance for companies is not because of the healthy single people, but by the chronically sick and those with families.

If they don't make up for the difference, then the competition who does offer health insurance will hire away all the employees. However, for most people, the compensation required to obtain their own health insurance, and thus retain the employee, is far less than that employees fractional share of the corporate health insurance policy.

At my small company of 20 people, our premiums are double because of two individuals - one lady has a sick child that requires ongoing surgery, and another has a chronically ill wife. The rest of us, and the company, are all paying extra for that.

Furthermore, while many companies are having trouble paying health care costs, the real issue is that the premiums are unpredictable, other than that they will go up. Companies can deal with high costs that are stable, but when the premiums are hiked significantly every 3-5 years, budgeting becomes difficult, and then most companies spend more money trying to find a different insurance company every 3-5 years, which adds cost on top of the premiums. Then you add the cost most employers incur of dedicated employees to help the staff sort out the paperwork and regulations to deal with the insurance company, and there are quite a few costs that can be reduced by simply giving the employee an equivalent cash compensation.