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Somewhat surprisingly, mid-sized companies (those with 100 to 499 employees) haven’t taken to self-insurance so readily. Thus, it comes as no surprise that alternative funding solutions, which enable employers to have more control over the cost of their health care program, have increasingly gained in popularity over the past decade, initially with larger organizations.Īccording to the Kaiser 2018 Employer Health Benefits Survey, “Eighty-seven percent of covered workers in firms with 1,000 to 4,999 workers and 91% of covered workers in firms with 5,000 or more workers are in self-funded plans in 2018.” In fact, Starbucks spends more on healthcare than they do on coffee beans. The cost of a traditional employee health insurance program is truly ominous for most organizations it typically ranks in the top three expenditures of an organization’s overall budget. The rising popularity of alternative funding solutions That said, there are alternative funding solutions that should be explored to help you better manage this expense and, ultimately, provide you the transparency and tools required to help stabilize these costs.
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You can increase deductibles, copays, coinsurance, etc., but those are all only temporary fixes, and most are no longer viable in a time of full employment. The undeniable reality is that healthcare costs will continue to rise for employers. The gene-therapy, called Zolgensma, comes with a 2.1-million-dollar price-tag to treat Spinal Muscular Atrophy.
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This recent headline in the Washington Post, “FDA approves a gene therapy that is the most expensive drug in the world,” perfectly underscores the situation. The ongoing emergence of groundbreaking gene therapies, specialty drugs, and innovative cancer treatments, together with the increasing power of providers (e.g., via hospital mergers), will continue to put pressure on insurers to pass along the resulting higher health insurance costs to employers.
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There are multiple reasons why the annual increases in the cost of medical care persistently outpace general inflation, and why there appears to be no end in sight. When does it become unsustainable? Many will say the answer is yesterday! After all, how do you budget for seemingly endless annual premium rate hikes that typically range from a “low” of 7% to upwards of 12%, and beyond? We are not talking small dollars here – a 10% renewal increase could represent a six-digit increase in your overall premiums. Have you been exploring an Alternative Funding Arrangement for Employee Benefits? Here is what your insurance broker should be telling you.Īcross the U.S., CFOs, HR Directors, and CEOs at companies of all sizes are grappling with what to do in the face of unsustainable health insurance program cost increases.
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