With the election of Republican Scott Brown to the Senate, Democrats lose their filibuster-proof 60-vote majority and now face a major new roadblock to health care reform (which Brown opposes). But Democrats remain committed to passing reform despite the setback, and for employers, ongoing vigilance is a must. Open questions: which of several versions of a "Plan B" Democrats will pick and, once decided, whether they can execute. See today’s Pulse for a rundown.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of the Actuary has just released the National Health Expenditure Accounts (NHEA) for 2008. This article focuses primarily on employer-sponsored health insurance plans, and comparative trends in health care prices and utilization. Spending by private-sector employers on health insurance grew quite slowly in 2008, reflecting both declining enrollments and greater cost sharing with employees and retirees. But the possible enactment and nature of federal health care reform legislation will likely have the strongest effect on both the short- and long-term growth rates in overall health care spending.
A significant majority of U.S. employers believe health care reform, if enacted, would lead to higher costs for both employer-sponsored benefit programs and health care services overall, according to initial results from an employer survey conducted by Towers Watson and the National Business Group on Health.
Congress was in recess last week for the Thanksgiving holiday, returning today (November 30) for what promises to be several weeks of animated debate over the Senate health reform bill (H.R. 3590) as the process moves into the home stretch.
Large U.S. employers are continuing to shift significant health coverage costs to retirees or exiting sponsored retiree health benefit programs altogether, according to Towers Watson's 2010 Retiree Health Care Cost Survey.
Against a backdrop of prolonged recession, U.S. employers will see an increase in their medical benefit expenditures of 7% in 2010.
Based on a pulse survey of Human Resources executives, this report analyzes their views on how impending health care legislation will affect their benefit strategies.
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