Friday, September 10, 2004
Is there "just no answer" to rising health care costs?
[Theresa Agovino, "Health care costs climb 11.2 percent," Associated Press, The Lawrence Journal-World, 10 September 2004.]
With continued growth in health care costs, insurance premiums are rising and forcing employers - and their employees - to make some tough decisions:
Health care costs continued to surge this year as family premiums in employer-sponsored plans jumped 11.2 percent, the fourth year of double-digit growth, according to a new study.
The cumulative effect of rising health care costs is taking a toll on workers: There are at least 5 million fewer jobs providing health insurance in 2004 than in 2001, according to the survey of 3,017 employers by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust.
This year, 63 percent of employers offered health benefits to workers, down from 68 percent in 2001. The change is primarily driven by a decrease in the number of small employers, those with three to 199 workers, that offer coverage.
"Health insurance is becoming unaffordable, especially for small employers. We should expect the ranks of uninsured to grow as small employers can't afford health insurance," said Drew Altman, president of the Kaiser Family Foundation.
"There is a great sense that there is just no answer to this problem," Altman added.
Others are less melodramatic about the situation. Rather than dropping coverage altogether, some employers are taking a more proactive approach by turning to consumer-directed plans such as Health Savings Accounts. Flint Hills is hosting The Galen Institute's Greg Scandlen for luncheons on the topic of HSAs in Wichita and Kansas City later this month. For more information and to register, visit our homepage, http://www.flinthills.org.
[Theresa Agovino, "Health care costs climb 11.2 percent," Associated Press, The Lawrence Journal-World, 10 September 2004.]
With continued growth in health care costs, insurance premiums are rising and forcing employers - and their employees - to make some tough decisions:
Health care costs continued to surge this year as family premiums in employer-sponsored plans jumped 11.2 percent, the fourth year of double-digit growth, according to a new study.
The cumulative effect of rising health care costs is taking a toll on workers: There are at least 5 million fewer jobs providing health insurance in 2004 than in 2001, according to the survey of 3,017 employers by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust.
This year, 63 percent of employers offered health benefits to workers, down from 68 percent in 2001. The change is primarily driven by a decrease in the number of small employers, those with three to 199 workers, that offer coverage.
"Health insurance is becoming unaffordable, especially for small employers. We should expect the ranks of uninsured to grow as small employers can't afford health insurance," said Drew Altman, president of the Kaiser Family Foundation.
"There is a great sense that there is just no answer to this problem," Altman added.
Others are less melodramatic about the situation. Rather than dropping coverage altogether, some employers are taking a more proactive approach by turning to consumer-directed plans such as Health Savings Accounts. Flint Hills is hosting The Galen Institute's Greg Scandlen for luncheons on the topic of HSAs in Wichita and Kansas City later this month. For more information and to register, visit our homepage, http://www.flinthills.org.
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