Joseph Paduda over at Managed Care Matters has an interesting take on health insurance and employers.
In the rush to get us to the holy grail of universal healthcare it's true that many plans and proposals see taking responsibility for providing health insurance off the shoulders of employers and instead on the shoulders of individuals, the government and/or insurance companies. But Joe makes some great points about why employers should care that their employees get the best care possible, and why employers will still probably end up participating: Productivity and Competition.
As an employer who does offer health care to full-time employees and their dependents at very very attractive levels I can say that the health care cost, on its own, is somewhat high, but as a percentage of our operating expenses, or even as a percentage of overall employee compensation, it is low.
Meanwhile, it means a LOT to each individual employee. It's not just the money, although they appreciate that, it's also the thought.
My inclination would be that even in a world of universal accessibility of health insurance, it would give me an edge to continue to provide coverage to employees. It means more to their bottom line than mine, but being able to hire and retain great people is EVERYTHING to my bottom line.
Know what I mean?
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