Despite the economic downturn over the past five years, health care costs in Massachusetts have continued to skyrocket. Over that period, members of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts — Main Street businesses like grocery stores, restaurants, and jewelers — have endured an average annual increase of 14 percent in health insurance costs for their employees. It is true that the 2012 increases were the lowest over those five years, but that doesn’t mean it’s time to declare victory on costs. We must continue to press for lower premiums, particularly for small businesses.
The fault for excessive costs lies with everyone from hospitals to insurers, policymakers to consumers. The solutions aren’t simple but must be grounded in the principles of consumer transparency and empowerment, rather than continuing to cede control to the health care industry itself, or asking the government to figure it out.
Comments
Mr Hurst maybe you could clarify some things: "Hospitals should grow no more than the economy in the short term." - Great so how will you limit the cost of prescription drugs(28% increase), medical devices & implants (total joint implants 170% increase over 10 years)? Will your business community accept less profit to lower the cost of health care? "but salary and benefits from top to bottom may be out of step with the rest of us" - I guess you are advocating paying healthcare professionals who after years of college working nights, weekend, holidays low wages and no benefits as you do in retail. Sorry, I guess health care workers have partially escaped the American race to the bottom. We cant have that. "quality transparency" Please define quality. Does the fact that a hospital gives you an Aspirin quickly mean that they are giving quality care in oncology? Actually under today's definitions it does. "Small businesses need the choices and buying leverage enjoyed by big businesses. " - Well we could join most civilized countries and create a single payer system. That would do away with the need for business to worry about this at all. It would cut provider administrative costs along with those needed to support the insurance industry. But that idea might cause you to run out of the room yelling "socialist, burn them!" "The government must roll back costly mandated benefits" - I partially agree with you. Some things, such as fertility probably shouldn't be part of basic coverage. "go to the lower cost yet equal quality provider" - Once again please define quality but you of course have no way of doing this. A lot of holes in your arguments. But you really don't know anything about health care.
Jon, Jon, Jon. You provide no evidence that small businesses are paying more than large businesses for comparable health insurance, yet now that your into that business..there's a solution. Well there was one before, tell the small business guy to buy the same kind of policy as big business offers..not first dollar coverage, with modest co-pays and deductible, unlike the one you hatched with the Steward guys. Lousy hospitals and $4000 out of pocket, no thanks.