Businesses to Shift More
Health Costs to Workers

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The vast majority of businesses in the U.S. expect to increase the amount that employees pay for health insurance premiums next year, according to survey results released Thursday as part of "Cover the Uninsured Week."

Large and small businesses said they anticipate shifting more of the financial burden to workers as healthcare expenses continue to soar. Business leaders expect healthcare costs to jump 18 percent, on average, next year, following a 14 percent increase in 2002.

And there's little relief in sight. Employers project that healthcare costs will rise an average of 17 percent a year over the next five years.

To deal with those costs, companies say they'll pass along a quarter of the 18 percent increase to employees. An overwhelming majority (92 percent) expects to boost the amount that employees pay for their health insurance premium. Eighty-three percent anticipate raising deductibles and co-pays, and 76 percent said they're likely to shift more prescription drug costs to workers.

Forty-five percent said they'll reduce employee health benefits over the next five years.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a major sponsor of Cover the Uninsured Week, released the survey results as part of a weeklong effort to increase awareness of the plight of the 41 million Americans who lack health insurance.

Public Opinion Strategies, based in Alexandria, Virginia, surveyed 602 business leaders from small, medium and large companies that provide and pay for at least some portion of health insurance benefits for full-time workers.

Reference Source 89

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