Businesses Already Shouldering Their Share in Massachusetts

Posted by Marc Kilmer in Health Care, Massachusetts on Jul 28th, 2008 | no responses

In response to Governor Devall Patrick's plan to make businesses in Massachusetts pay more to fund the costly Massachusetts health care plan, the Boston Herald has a great editorial reminding the governor that businesses in the state are already paying a lot:

Patrick is arguing that businesses aren’t holding up their end of the health care bargain and he has proposed up to $130 million in new assessments and fees on businesses, insurers and health care providers, including a “one-time” tax on the reserve funds retained by health insurers.

It is a campaign fueled in part by advocates, who are unhappy about increases in premiums and co-payments imposed on those who receive subsidized care. If the insured individual has to “step up,” the thinking goes, the business community should, too.

But as a coalition of powerful business interests pointed out in a letter to legislative leaders last week, employers have stepped up, absorbing $500 million in added costs since the law was enacted.

It is easy for some people to forget that four out of five insured individuals in Massachusetts receive coverage through their employer, as the letter notes, and with health care costs skyrocketing the cost to employers is skyrocketing, too.

Because of the mandate that individuals carry health insurance, more are turning to their employers’ plans – 85,000 more, by one estimate – yet another cost driver.

And thanks to the wisdom of those who decide just how much coverage an individual must have, some employers have been forced to upgrade their plan offerings.