SmartPulse — our weekly reader poll in Smartbrief on Workforce — tracks feedback from leading managers and HR practitioners. We run the poll question each Wednesday in our e-newsletter.
Last week, we asked: Are your employees bearing a higher portion of health care costs today than before?
- Yes — employees cover a higher percentage of health care costs, 62%
- No — employees pay more but so does the company, 30%
- No — our health care costs have stayed the same or gone down, 7%
- I don’t know, 2%
I was actually a little bit surprised by the results. From feedback I’ve received, it seems like more than 6 in 10 employers are passing off more of the cost to employees but the poll says otherwise. In light of expected double-digit increases in health premium costs next year, I would expect more employers to shift a higher cost burden to employees as everyone gets squeezed.
Lance Haun is community director for ERE.net, the main guy over at Rehaul.com and a member of the SmartBrief on Workforce Advisory Board.
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Lance Haun, Bernie S. Dyme. Bernie S. Dyme said: New poll data from SmartBrief RT @thelance: Employees feeling the health care pinch http://j.mp/a0Ku6f [...]
workers are bearing more of the cost, as the kaiser family foundation report shows <a href="http://(http://ehbs.kff.org/pdf/2010/8086.pdf)” target=”_blank”>(http://ehbs.kff.org/pdf/2010/8086.pdf). their share of the cost has risen from 17% to 19% for single coverage and from 27% to 30% for family. many people have restricted their health care use because of the increasing cost in hard times, and this is certain to drive more of that behavior. at the same time, employers are reducing benefits and investing more in wellness programs. it's a confusing message. employers really need to consider whether they are making decisions that support their employees and their families efforts to stay healthy.
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