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Greater numbers of area employees are boning up on their insurance terms. Cost sharing, for example, means the boss is passing a portion of health-insurance expenses on to them. And out of pocket is where they're digging to pay for it. According to an Internet survey of subscribers to Business First's daily e-mail edition, far more workers chip in a percentage of the cost of their health insurance today compared to five years ago. The survey, conducted from Oct. 14 to Oct. 17, showed that about 80 percent of employers who offered health-insurance benefits required employees to pay for at least a portion of the coverage. During a similar Business First survey in 2000, the figure was closer to 50 percent. MidCity Office Furniture Inc.'s 11 employees are among them. "Up to four years ago, we paid 100 percent for it," said Kurt Amico, president. "We had to make employees at least pay the increases. They're now paying 40 percent of the total cost." The Buffalo company's employees are among the 88 percent of American workers who contribute to their health-care premiums, according to a national survey by Benefits USA. The survey results indicate that during the last several years, the number of organizations that offer health care at no cost has decreased to 12 percent. The study predicted that more large and small employers will ask employees to shoulder more of the burden. Fully 43 percent of employers reported increasing the employee portion of their health-care premiums in the last year, and 33 percent increased deductible levels. MidCity did something similar. In addition to shifting the cost, the company took a plan with increased copayments to lower the overall cost of the benefits. "But there's only so much you can do with that until you go with a lesser plan," Amico said. Those employers that do offer any kind of assistance with health insurance most often will do so only for full-time workers, and often not extend the benefit to coverage for their families. The BISON Scholarship Fund Inc. is one such employer, but workers there have the option to have pre-tax deductions taken from their paychecks to cover family benefits, up to $5,000 annually. "We are a small not-for-profit organization, and although the company covers the employees' health insurance, we are unable to assist with employees' family benefits," executive director Kathleen Christy wrote in her survey response. "Although difficult, we cannot justify taking donors' contributions and using them anywhere but for our program expenses. This is just a fact of life and employees know and understand that - in order to keep their places of employment viable and healthy." Appliance Associates of Buffalo, too, provides health benefits for its 20 employees, but additional coverage is paid for by the workers. Some big employers have made headlines by switching to a single carrier, but Appliance Associates continues to offer the area's three major insurers: BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York, Independent Health and Univera Healthcare. "We feel it's the cost of having employees here. It's the cost of doing business," said Kevin Telaak, vice president. A handful of businesses are coupling slightly scaled-back managed-care plans with reimbursement accounts - a combination that some in the industry are calling "consumer-driven lite" plans. Two years ago, Aurora Consulting Group Inc. overhauled its health benefits by shifting to a single carrier and asking employees to pay any premium increases. The money saved helped the company fund $1,900 health-reimbursement arrangements for each of the 54 full-time employees. Workers can use the accounts to cover any out-of-pocket expenses such as copayments, over-the-counter drugs and dental and vision care. The combination is a retention tool, said President and CEO Jeff McCaskey. "We're always looking at how we can retain people. The focus is on quality of life," McCaskey said. About online thymes: online thymes allows small to medium sized businesses outsourced marketing functions. our firm offers innovative expertise in all aspects of marketing ranging from traditional methods such as public relations, print advertising and web development to email marketing and streaming video. our custom solutions are built around your business model to achieve your goals. online thymes, llc. | 2495 main street | suite 446 | buffalo, ny 14214 | p. 716.332.4369 | f. 716.677.2678| http://www.othymes.com | info@othymes.com
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3.27.2006
3.27.2006
