The Towers Perrin’s latests survey that US employers who insure their employees will shortly face an average annual per employee cost for healthcare coverage of US$10,000 must come at a time when companies must wish they had only to focus on increasing profits not reigning in healthcare costs.
One is somewhat surprised therefore in the slowness of the uptake of a product that if chosen and implemented correctly, will not only be desirable for employees, maintain high standards of healthcare but deliver significant cost savings, namely medical travel.
Nothing in the healthcare reforms to date has talked about addressing cost; its all about coverage. The question will therefore be will reigning in the costs of healthcare be left in the hands of the hospitals and insurers with the self -insured companies left to either pay higher costs or lay off staff? Spending time considering medical travel looks like a viable and progressive third option
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An interesting article. People have to remember that the pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies are in the business of making money. So why would health insurance become any cheaper if they are running the show?
My family and I have recently moved from the US to New Zealand and can’t believe how backwards the US health care system is.