Fewer Small Businesses Offering Health Insurance
Due to economic struggles and the rising cost of health insurance, many small businesses have eliminated or cut back their coverage of employees. Eve Tahmincioglu of MSNBC has reported on the trend of employers dropping their health coverage. Small businesses are suffering from decreasing sales from customers who are struggling financially. With lower profit margins, it has become virtually impossible for these businesses to pay ever-increasing premiums for their employees.
Employers that haven’t yet resorted to eliminating health care coverage altogether are taking other cost-cutting measures. Popular options, according to Eve, are increasing the cost of family members’ coverage and raising deductibles. These actions pass more of the costs of health care onto the consumer.
A recent survey claims that 85% of small business owners do not offer medical coverage to their employees, and 36% of those that do are thinking about dropping it. That figure was 74% in January 2007 and 77% in January 2008. As a result, more people will have to fend for themselves in the health care marketplace. Workers whose companies no longer offer health insurance benefits should look into buying individual health insurance policies, although that may not help employees who can’t get it due to pre-existing conditions.
(Photo credit: llawliet under CC 2.0)
