Smaller Businesses Cutting Health Coverage
Health costs rose around 10% in the past year for smaller businesses, and coupled with increasing costs for transportation, energy and supplies, they have been cutting back on health coverage for employees.
A survey conducted by the NJ Business & Industry Association found:
- While 4 years ago 92% of the smallest companies provided coverage, today only 77% do.
- 76% of the companies who dropped health coverage said that they did so because of costs.
- 52% of the companies who do provide coverage require employees to pay part of the premiums.
Premiums are expected to rise about 10% this year again. If it were because health costs went up, and health plans made only a modest profit, this would be a difficult but understandable reality. But as the AMA reports, the health plans are making a big buck at our expense (and force physicians to spend money fighting claims unnecessarily), and would rather lose members than lose profits.
What will next year hold?