Health Insurance Daily

Why Double-Digit Premium Increases Might Be Good For Employers

A funny thing happens when crude costs rise. Drivers pay more attention to pump prices, postpone road trips, leverage public transportation and clamor for teleworking benefits. Affected businesses also get active, pumping money into R&D and looking for more sustainable sources of energy. When prices fall, however, the reverse happens. People stop caring. No pain no gain is how economists describe it.

Do the same "rules" apply to health care? And, if so, does the recent slowing of annual premium increases mean the big brains who brought us such broad innovations as consumer-driven health and prescription drug reform, as well as more focused items like health savings accounts
and MinuteClinics, will turn their attention elsewhere? It depends on whom you ask.

"Yes, if [cost] comes down a little bit, you take a little pressure off. And when it jumps up, you see more people running around and looking," says Thomas Getzen, professor of risk insurance and health management at Temple University and executive director for the International Health Economics Association.

To read this article in its entirety click on Employee Benefit News.

posted by Mike @ 8:35 AM