Feel like your health benefits are shrinking? They probably are
If you get health benefits through an employer, you have probably seen your costs rise every year. That's in part because premiums keep going up. But it's also because many employers are picking up a smaller share of the tab.
Feel like your health benefits are shrinking? They probably are
Robert I. Field, Ph.D., J.D., M.P.H., Professor, Earle Mack School of Law & Drexel School of Public Health
If you get health benefits through an employer, you have probably seen your costs rise every year. That’s in part because premiums keep going up. But it’s also because many employers are picking up a smaller share of the tab.
A recent survey by the consulting firm of Towers Watson and the nonprofit National Business Group on Health found that workers are contributing 42% more for health care than they did five years ago. During the same time, the amount paid by employers rose by only 32%. In the last two years, the average employee share of health care costs has grown from 34% to 37%.
You may feel the larger financial burden in several ways. The most noticeable for most is that their employer is covering a smaller portion of the premiums. The average employee share of total premiums was $2,658 in 2012 and is expected to rise to $2,888 in 2013. That’s an increase from 23% to 25%.
Or you may face higher co-payments and deductibles when you receive care. Some plans don’t provide coverage until costs have reached several thousand dollars each year.
At the same time, salary increases have averaged less than 2% over the past three years. That’s really making health care cost inflation hit home for many people.
And the worst may be yet to come. The survey also found that 80% of employers plan to cut the share of premiums they cover even further. Coverage for dependents may be especially hard hit.
For some, this is yet more evidence of the ominous hand of Obamacare at work. However, that is not the case.
Cutbacks in employer health benefits began several years ago, before Obama had even been elected president. The survey found a trend of increasing worker costs dating back to 2008.
And if the trend is due to rising health care costs, Obamacare may actually have helped to moderate it. Employer health care expenses rose by only 5.1% last year, the smallest rate of increase in 15 years.
Beneath all of these statistics is an unavoidable dynamic. As health care becomes increasingly complex, it becomes increasingly expensive. If medical technology is going to continue to advance, someone has to pay for it. And many employers can’t afford to pick up as large a share any more.
Obamacare will add a safety net for some. If their employer drops coverage completely, they are guaranteed insurance through an exchange. However, as long as Americans demand more and better health care, the underlying rise in costs will continue.
Insurance has buffered many of us from the true cost of health care for a long time. That is starting to change as workers pay for a larger share of their coverage. That means we now see more clearly how expensive health care really is.
Controlling health care costs will require some tough choices in the years ahead. Political debates will only intensify as we seek ways to stem the rise in expenses while maintaining the quality of our care. However, the shrinking of health care benefits is unlikely to end until we do.
Maybe the magic bullet i to control health care costs is this. Instead of practicing sick care, we should begin practicing well care. How about a system where illness is avoided? My employer already assesses people who use tobacco products a higher monthly premium. Healthy lifestyles are encouraged. If our health care delivery system is reviewed everything revolves around providing services when people get sick or develop an illness. What our health insurance model does not provide or encourage is for people to get well care. Look at the way the plans provide coverage. Some people need to achieve high deductibles before coverage kicks in, but what if the coverage made well visits a covered benefit. Maybe twice a year to the primary care physician. Coverage for weight reduction programs, gym memberships, or nutritional counseling are usually buried in the benefits. What if those items were brought to the forefront?— RandiRN-1.jpg)
So true. Corporate America and the UK have been raking in record profits off the pocketbook of the consumer all along.- Things are getting really bad. I've been going to a veterinarian to reduce my costs over time. I've been fairly healthy, but the fleas have been an issue. Also, I think I was neutered the last visit...— ricciaje
From Obamacare to Medicare to managed care to genomics, this blog reports on and analyzes the laws, government policies, and political trends that are transforming the care we receive and the way we pay for it. The Field Clinic dissects the latest health care news, explaining it and putting it in context. Read more about the panel here.
