Big-Employer Health Care Costs Rise 6.5 Percent In 2010: Study

INDIANAPOLIS — A new study says health care costs for large employers will rise more than 6 percent this year, and more companies are thinking about revamping their benefits.

The study from benefits consultant Towers Watson says this year's increase in the cost companies pay to administer health plans and pay claims is down slightly from 2009's 7 percent hike.

A total of 83 percent of companies surveyed say they have either revamped their health care strategy or expect to do so in the next two years. This can mean switching plan designs or an increasing employee payments among other big changes.

Towers Watson surveyed more than 500 employers from November through January. Each had more than 1,000 employees.

Comments

[berthanan]

10:25 AM on 02/23/2010

I have an idea...We (all americans ) should get the same coverage our elected officials have,......Why not..they have the best and they have it for life............................

[JimVinFalz]

06:18 AM on 02/23/2010

Poor (and getting poorer all the time) white guy: "God dammit! If I didn't want to screw Obama so much, I'd be forced to think about how badly I'm getting screwed by the healthcare industry!"

[buddhistmonk]

06:04 AM on 02/23/2010

I know that a lot of the runaway costs are due to fraud. Two of my associates are in the medical field. One is a doctor and the other runs a MRI facility. The one who runs the MRI facility really milks the system and finds 50 ways to add on tests and costs.

The other docotor is a fine surgeon who tells me the cost of basic items which are 200-300% above retail. When insurance is involved the costs are inflated.

So not only do we have fraud but doctors must pay huge malpractice insurance because of our society..."you did not pop my pimple correctly so I am suing" etc..

Now you may say those darn law suits but think again if you have an operation and the doc leaves his cell phone in your belly.

All I know is I am healthy and the amount of insurance I pay is a total waste. Maybe one day I will need it.

[mudman]

02:36 AM on 02/23/2010

We won't have true health care reform until we hit a "tipping point" of uninsured people. 47 million uninsured hasn't been enough because many of those were the invisible underclass of the service economy. When white collars and conservative democrats who once upon a time voted for reagan start knowing people without coverage, or start being unable to afford their coverage, the game will shift very quickly.

[trinity]

12:04 AM on 02/23/2010

I believe it, my premiums just went up 8% this month.

[sonshine]

10:49 PM on 02/22/2010

When those price hikes come, the teabagger crew will shrink.

[Bruce Flitt]

10:43 PM on 02/22/2010

Crazy World!!

[suese]

09:49 PM on 02/22/2010

People on individual market, not getting insurance thru employer already have $5000 deductible (max), now they probably will have to go to 10-20k deductible plans. There is no prevention or any healthcare, it's just for catastrophe and to pay 600-800 a month for that.

[suese]

09:33 PM on 02/22/2010

If every industrialized country in the world can make it work, why can't the US?
What is wrong with us ?

[KimHW]

11:19 PM on 02/22/2010

we have republicans
something like a roach infestation I believe

[ChristianCooper]

03:48 AM on 02/23/2010

Because the US pays for their national defense.... We first need to close our 700 bases around the world before we can do something with health care...

As a country we cannot just keep spending money when there is none...

[shaha]

08:46 AM on 02/23/2010

correct!

[suese]

09:31 PM on 02/22/2010

Companies will drop health insurance.

Do you want to keep supporting NATO as we have for the last 50 years or do you want healthcare for your family.

[catbite]

09:50 PM on 02/22/2010

Can you blame companies for dropping health insurance? Thecost is outrageous. Insurance coverage will go the way of the annual Christmas party.

[suese]

10:17 PM on 02/22/2010

Actually, I don't blame companies for dropping health insurance. They can't compete.

I think if companies did not offer it, maybe there would have been healthcare in the US like in all the other industrialized countries for all citizens.

[sonshine]

10:51 PM on 02/22/2010

NATO? Add a few hundred more budget items if you are trying to compare expenditures healthcare costs. NATO cannot touch healthcare.

[ZombyWoof]

09:03 PM on 02/22/2010

I’m at a loss as to what to make of this and other recent similar news items as it seems to me that if an industry was under the kind of assault in which the private health insurance industry currently finds itself, you would think that they would be laying low, desperately trying not to bring attention to themselves by increasing the denial of coverage, drastically raising rates and premiums while exacerbating their image problem coupling those practices with obscenely huge CEO compensation.

They either clearly believe they control the government or they believe the end of the feast is in sight and are trying fatten up by cannibalize their customers.

[Hurried Harry]

09:05 PM on 02/22/2010

It appears that the bi product of greed is lack of sense.

[ThursdaysChild]

10:50 PM on 02/22/2010

Yes, probably some of both.

[sonoffestus]

08:37 PM on 02/22/2010

Good this is exactly what needs to happen. Actually, when these plans are hit with 25 to 30 % increases things may start to change. The ONLY solution is a single payer universal HC system. It will eventualy happen. It just depends upon how much more pain and suffering you can with stand.

[Hurried Harry]

08:49 PM on 02/22/2010

Yes. Apparently to get to bipartisan agreement, the voters on the right need to see for themselves what it is like to not have health care due to lack of insurance. They want to think health care is accessible without coverage --- this should open their eyes. As much as I don't like to see others suffer, apparently we will need to have this happen before their is a consensus on the right that there is no other option but the PUBLIC OPTION.

[DuganS1]

08:52 PM on 02/22/2010

Single payer won't make a difference. The problem is not with insurance company profits, but rather with overuse of the system by people with insurance and the ability of health care companies, pharma companies, and hospitals to get insurance companies or government to pay whatever they charge. Taking insurance company profits out of the system will help a little bit, but eliminating the ability to reject claims will make the situation worse, and the govt putting more people on the health insurance dole (30 million+) will make things incredibly worse. The real solution is rationing and having companies or govt force health care companies and hospitals to charge lower prices for their services and/or products. That's the only way.

[Hurried Harry]

08:57 PM on 02/22/2010

Through the single payer they can negotiate the prices and bring the payments down. In addition, there will be no unpaid bills - indigent care - which is another factor in driving up costs. I don't claim to be an expert, but I think the public option has more merits toward cost reduction than private insurance and certainly more than no insurance.

[suese]

09:32 PM on 02/22/2010

If every industrialized country in the world can make it work, why can't the US?
What is wrong with us ?

[rad21]

08:28 PM on 02/22/2010

I hope Senators and Representatives agonizing about the healthcare bill realize they are addressing a small aspect of reform. Major component is delivery of care. So here is something to chew on.

In the continuum of healthcare delivery, primary care providers (PCP) are important. They influence unnecessary emergency room visits (accounts for 5% of healthcare costs) and management of chronic illness (accounts for 70% of healthcare costs). As at any cross-roads of healthcare delivery, the challenge is to incentivize, (with carrots and sticks), the Consumer (patient) and the Providers (doctors, hospitals, pharma and medical suppliers) to follow best-practice guidelines and utilize cost-effective healthcare.

To control cost, hospitals (where most of the expensive healthcare is delivered), have to implement stringent Quality Improvement (QI) and Monitoring programs; and have a seamless working relations with PCPs. In most hospitals, the QI program is a white-wash paper-pushing chore of mid-level managers.

One cannot nickle and dime the low cost-centers like PCPs, while the high cost-centers continue to be a gusher of healthcare dollars. Here is where a central healthcare board (devoid of political ties and staffed by bio-statisticians) would be of vital importance. The board supervises the entire continuum of healthcare including insurance and the communities' wellness and end-of-life care programs. Currently healthcare commissioners in most states are political appointees; likely heavily influenced by the governor's campaign donors.

[Richard Scherer]

06:59 PM on 02/22/2010

Everyday we hear reports about the scandalous behavior by firms health care industry. It seems that they've been gouging us all along. There is something intrinsically evil about how millions of people suffer and die due to the insatiable greed of these companies. But like a lot of other issues (war, for instance), lobbyists' money pays for legislation, or the lack thereof.

[ranthny]

06:36 PM on 02/22/2010

6% is nothing. Some of my friends have had to endure 30-45% rate hikes in a single year. Thank you Tea Baggers--hope you are also absorbing your own increases!