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Small Business or
Group health
insurance is an
important benefit
to offer your
employees but the
costs have risen
significantly over
the last few
years. There some
important trends
for Small Business
health insurance
that are taking
place to address
these increases.
Consumer Driven
Small Business
health insurance.
Managed Care
(HMO's and PPO's)
have reached their
limit of
containing costs.
Current Small
Business health
insurance
inflation is
driven by
utilization (copays
for services),
prescriptions
(brand name costs
and direct to
consumer
marketing),
provider
consolidation
(hospitals forming
collective
bargaining
chains), and
increased
sophistication and
use of
diagnostic testing
(MRI's, PET Scans,
CAT Scans, X-rays
etc). The new
trend to address
these issues is
Consumer Driven
Small Business
insurance.
Essentially, this
option creates an
incentive for
individual
employees to
better utilize
their health
insurance. It
typically involves
a high deductible
but each employee
is given an amount
funded into their
account for first
dollar coverage.
When they use up
their pot of
money, they are
then responsible
for their medical
costs up to a
maximum out of
pocket. It works
well for a few
reasons: |
