Here's a thought...many pundits have stated that lower energy prices are a major factor to fuel the economic recovery. I submit that for every dollar put in J4P's pocket in 2002 by energy, a clownbuck is taken OUT by health care costs. To wit:
boston.com
Surveys say companies' health care costs will rise
By Diane E. Lewis, Globe Staff, 1/4/2002
ith medical and drug costs growing and the nation in recession, many US companies will face higher than expected health care costs in 2002, forcing some to shift more of the burden of health insurance premiums to employees, two new surveys show.
Overall, health care costs for employers will increase by more than 15 percent in 2002 due to the recession and the events of Sept. 11, according to Watson Wyatt Worldwide, an international management consulting firm.
Although many employers were expecting an increase of 13.6 percent this year, they will face additional 1 to 2 percentage point hikes because of workers' increased reliance on employee assistance programs, antidepressants, and antistress drugs since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Watson Wyatt says in its study.
In a separate survey of 3,000 US companies, William M. Mercer Inc. in Boston reports that the average annual health care premium per employee charged by health care providers will increase to approximately $5,564 this year, up from $4,924 in 2001 - an increase of about 13 percent. These costs will be shared by employers and employees, with 25 to 30 percent of the costs paid by workers. The survey found that 34 percent of large firms will either require that workers pay a larger percentage of the premium or that they make higher copayments after visiting doctors.
''There is cost shifting both in terms of what the benefits are and what employees have to pay out of their paychecks,'' noted Mark Abate, a health care and group benefits consultant at Mercer. ''This began happening at small companies last year. For large employers, it is just now beginning in 2002.''
When Mercer asked companies whether they had thought of ways to exit involvement in health care altogether, 13 percent of the 920 small employers and 6 percent of the 1,893 large firms said they were considering terminating their health care plans. The firms said they were thinking of giving workers extra pay to fund their own coverage.
Abate noted that some employers were considering a market-driven approach in which employees would receive catastrophic or high deductible insurance for unexpected health care expenses and a health care spending account for more routine expenses. In all, 29 percent of companies with 20,000 or more workers and 17 percent of all of the companies polled indicated they were somewhat or very likely to establish that plan within two years.
Randall Abbott, a senior health care consultant at Watson Wyatt, said the events of Sept. 11 will affect health care for some time, particularly prescription drug prices, as families struggle to cope with future uncertainties, he said.
He added that mounting layoffs have also contributed to higher medical expenses because of the increased claim costs incurred by companies when laid off workers seek continuation of health benefits under COBRA.
Health Resources, an occupational health and medical management firm in Woburn, said many of its small corporate clients are trying to promote a preventative approach to health care by encouraging workers to exercise, eat healthier foods, request less costly generic drug brands when they fill prescriptions, and question the need for expensive medical procedures.
Dallas Salisbury, executive director of the Employee Benefits Research Institute in Washington, D.C., a nonprofit group, said health care costs will continue to escalate because of the aging baby boom generation, new technology, and medical breakthroughs.
The story you posted from the LA Times was related, because the plan that went under cited rising medical costs as the chief culprit. |
