Employees Face Health Care Changes For 2011
November 8th, 10Fall can be a tough time for American workers. In addition to gearing up for the holidays, many are also gearing up for higher premiums that will come next year. Typically in the fall is when employers give their workers insurance options for the following year. And as the Washington Post reports, many workers may be faced with less-than-ideal options. According to experts, studies show that rates will be increasing and companies will be putting more of the financial burden for premiums, deductibles and co-pays on their employees.
A study from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust found that the share of costs put on employees rose from 27 percent to 30 percent. That equaled a 13.7 percent jump in the amount paid by workers. Another study that will provide more insight into these trends will be released in 2011, but most officials believe it will just reemphasize what’s already known. A study by Mercer found that employers are seeing health care costs increase by about 10 percent, but with cost saving methods will be able to drop that added burden to 6 percent. One way they’re doing that is by having their employees pay more of the cost. Another method is by encouraging employees to lose weight and get healthier. A Mercer official says lowering employee premiums or providing rewards for taking health assessment surveys are becoming more common.
Many employers also said they would try to lower their costs by prompting employees to improve their health: Forty-four percent said they will add health management or wellness programs. An additional 38 percent said they will add incentives for employees to participate in existing programs. “There may even be incentives to achieve your ideal biometrics – blood pressure and body mass index, for instance,” Tracy Watts told the Washington Post. “That’s very encouraging, because it suggests that employers believe that focusing on members’ health is a good thing to do.”
Even though the bulk of the impact of the new health care law won’t take shape for a few years, there are some changes happening now. All plans must eliminate lifetime dollar limits on benefits. And parents are now allowed to put children up to the age of 26 on their plans. But experts say the bulk of the impact of the new law won’t be known for a while. “We’re three years away from that,” economist Paul Fronstin of the nonprofit Employee Benefits Research Institute told the Washington Post. “For the most part, the plans don’t know what they’re going to be doing [in response]. It’s just too soon.”
