Greater
numbers of area employees are boning up on their insurance terms.
Cost sharing,
for example, means the boss is passing a portion of health-insurance
expenses on to them. And out of pocket is where they're digging
to pay for it.
According
to an Internet survey of subscribers to Business First's daily
e-mail edition, far more workers chip in a percentage of the cost
of their health insurance today compared to five years ago.
The survey,
conducted from Oct. 14 to Oct. 17, showed that about 80 percent
of employers who offered health-insurance benefits required employees
to pay for at least a portion of the coverage. During a similar
Business First survey in 2000, the figure was closer to 50 percent.
MidCity Office
Furniture Inc.'s 11 employees are among them.
"Up to
four years ago, we paid 100 percent for it," said Kurt Amico,
president. "We had to make employees at least pay the increases.
They're now paying 40 percent of the total cost."
The Buffalo
company's employees are among the 88 percent of American workers
who contribute to their health-care premiums, according to a national
survey by Benefits USA. The survey results indicate that during
the last several years, the number of organizations that offer
health care at no cost has decreased to 12 percent.
The study
predicted that more large and small employers will ask employees
to shoulder more of the burden. Fully 43 percent of employers
reported increasing the employee portion of their health-care
premiums in the last year, and 33 percent increased deductible
levels.
MidCity did
something similar. In addition to shifting the cost, the company
took a plan with increased copayments to lower the overall cost
of the benefits.
"But
there's only so much you can do with that until you go with a
lesser plan," Amico said.
Those employers
that do offer any kind of assistance with health insurance most
often will do so only for full-time workers, and often not extend
the benefit to coverage for their families. The BISON Scholarship
Fund Inc. is one such employer, but workers there have the option
to have pre-tax deductions taken from their paychecks to cover
family benefits, up to $5,000 annually.
"We are
a small not-for-profit organization, and although the company
covers the employees' health insurance, we are unable to assist
with employees' family benefits," executive director Kathleen
Christy wrote in her survey response. "Although difficult,
we cannot justify taking donors' contributions and using them
anywhere but for our program expenses. This is just a fact of
life and employees know and understand that - in order to keep
their places of employment viable and healthy."
Appliance
Associates of Buffalo, too, provides health benefits for its 20
employees, but additional coverage is paid for by the workers.
Some big employers have made headlines by switching to a single
carrier, but Appliance Associates continues to offer the area's
three major insurers: BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York,
Independent Health and Univera Healthcare.
"We feel
it's the cost of having employees here. It's the cost of doing
business," said Kevin Telaak, vice president.
A handful
of businesses are coupling slightly scaled-back managed-care plans
with reimbursement accounts - a combination that some in the industry
are calling "consumer-driven lite" plans. Two years
ago, Aurora Consulting Group Inc. overhauled its health benefits
by shifting to a single carrier and asking employees to pay any
premium increases. The money saved helped the company fund $1,900
health-reimbursement arrangements for each of the 54 full-time
employees. Workers can use the accounts to cover any out-of-pocket
expenses such as copayments, over-the-counter drugs and dental
and vision care. The combination is a retention tool, said President
and CEO Jeff McCaskey.
"We're
always looking at how we can retain people. The focus is on quality
of life," McCaskey said.
About MidCity Office Furniture. For a better day at the office.™
Over 35
years of providing affordable office solutions to Western New York businesses.
From conference rooms to executive suites…file cabinets to cubicles…floor
covering to window treatments, MidCity Office Furniture has the solution for
you. Located in the Tri-Main Center, MidCity has clients across New York State
including University at Buffalo, Hunt Real Estate, Merchants Insurance, US Postal
Service and WUTV. MidCity
Office Furniture | 2495 Main Street, Suite 240 | Buffalo, NY 14214 | 716.832.0138
| www.midcityoffice.com
###
