Small Business Health Insurance Hit Hard
June 2010
While the debate still rages regarding the future efficiency of the 2010 healthcare bill, 2009 census data is in, and tells a troubling tale of
private health insurance rates and the growing number of uninsured people in America.
According to the data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2009 the number of uninsured Americans went up by a whopping 2.9 million, and
small business health insurance has been hit particularly hard.
This means that 1 out of 5 working adults are uninsured, and those who work for smaller businesses are more likely to go without private health insurance. One practice that may be to blame is known as "purging," which is where insurance companies intentionally raise their prices on certain populations or health care services in order to force "less popular" (or sicker) individuals out of their coverage.
While private health insurance companies categorically deny that purging exists, the American Medical Association has recently addressed the issue as one that needs to be eliminated in order to make health care available to all Americans.
Small business health insurance is often the target of purging because, in many cases, their employees' medical costs aren't absorbed by the larger number of premiums paid in group health insurance with large corporations.
Facts on:
Small Business Health Insurance and "Purging"
Did you know...
Another 2.9 million people were uninsured in 2009.
|
This means that though small business health insurance costs employees and employers more to begin with, it also costs private health insurance companies more money, and leads to rising costs that aren't always based on actual usage.
Health insurance companies argue that the real issue at hand is the rising cost of health care in general, and the poor health of many Americans, issues that need to be dealt with if insurance companies are ever going to be able to offer good coverage at affordable rates.
One concern regarding the
healthcare bill is that while employers of larger companies will be expected to offer coverage to their employees, there are no price controls on the premiums associated with private health insurance outside of the insurance exchanges designed to be open by 2014.
This means that with rising costs and no limits on premiums, everyone will be turning to the exchanges for affordable health coverage, and insurance companies won't be able to compete.
Recent Topics:
