While healthcare costs overall have declined in the U.S. in recent years, more and more employees are facing rising deductibles, co-payments and co-insurance–even on employer-sponsored plans (which still cover the majority of insured American workers).
Employers, for their part, are gearing up for the 2018 implementation of the so-called “Cadillac tax” on more expensive insurance plans. As a result, they’re looking to their workers to shoulder more of the burden of their own health costs.
The net/net, according to several recent studies, is that a growing percentage of insured employees are having trouble paying their medical bills while struggling to meet higher deductibles, and so are actually forgoing doctor’s visits and procedures that the ACA was designed to make available. Some are also not opting for preventive care services, many of which are covered by even the highest-deductible plans.
Companies are feeling their staffers’ pain and are responding by:
- Offering reduced premiums in return for participation in corporate health wellness programs
- Providing health savings accounts, which can help employees pay medical expenses on a tax-free basis
- Reaching out to employees to make sure they understand the preventive-care services (and drugs) that the ACA entitles them to receive (especially with high-deductible plans)
- Informing them of voluntary benefits that might fill gaps or donut holes in their coverage.