NYT/AP: Health Care Costs Dragging (employees pay more; lower raises?)

[DeepModem Mom]

Health Care Costs Dragging
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: July 18, 2005
Filed at 12:43 a.m. ET


NEW YORK (AP) -- Employees are facing a double whammy when it comes to health care costs: Many companies are likely to ask workers to pay more for their insurance while rising health care costs means companies may dole out lower raises.

Half of large U.S. companies said that increased health care costs have contributed to slower profit growth and as a result more than 75 percent may ask employees to bear an even greater share of the cost, according to a new study by PricewaterhouseCoopers released Monday.

Twenty-five percent of the companies said double-digit health care cost increases may force them to lower wage hikes for employees and one in five expects to slow hiring of new permanent workers in the year ahead. The executives at the 150 companies surveyed said per-employee health care costs had risen 12 percent over the last year and were expecting an 11 percent increase in the coming year if no changes are made to the plans.

While various indicators may point to improvement in the economy, health care costs are squeezing companies ability to hire more workers and raise pay, said PricewaterhouseCoopers consultant Barry Barnett. Right now, he said between 12 percent and 15 percent of company's payroll costs stem from health care, up from around 8 percent five years ago.

''Health care costs are the reason job growth isn't where the Bush administration would like it to be,'' Barnett said....


http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Health-Care-Costs.html

[Erika]

1. My brother was let go from Washington Group International

just two years short of retirement. He must now come up with $750.00 a month in insurance premiums for he and his wife.

Bush's America.

[area51]

2. universal healthcare for the U.S.

It's a win-win situation to get universal healthcare in the U.S. Less costs for businesses, they can hire more people, & they get healthier, more productive workers. We already pay enough in taxes to get universal healthcare, but the money is diverted to the military.

[raccoon]

6. you got that right. nt

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

15. Why is your hammer lying atop your sickle?

:sarcasm:

[Vinca]

3. I'm happy to read this bit of news because

we won't get universal healthcare until the corporations tell our corporate-owned government we need to have it. That's the bottom line, folks. We get health care when their coffers stop filling. (Our insurance topped out at $1,000 a month with a huge deductible and we had to let it go. Every day is a finger crossing event.)

[krkaufman]

5. Well, what you're reading doesn't necessarily translate....

... to what the corporate elite are telling the Admin to do.

Corporations are reaping record profits, and it's my opinion that stories like this are used more to force concessions from employees than urge systemic change in how corporations and this gov't function.

[Vinca]

7. Good point, but

it can't be lost in corporateville that U.S. car manufacturers are focusing on plants north of the border. Canada's healthcare system saves them $4 - $5 per hour per employee. Real record profits will be taking place . . . in Ontario. Someday the pukes will look at their stock portfolios and say, "WTF!" That's when they'll talk about a health care system.

[krkaufman]

8. (yeah, that was a good -- though sad -- article on Toyota)

It hit on both universal health care *and* education funding problems.

[Vinca]

9. I read somewhere else - forget where - that GM is growing the

work force up north and reducing it south of the border. I guess you can't sell cars with "employee discounts" and pay for health insurance too.

[krkaufman]

12. Especially when you're not making cars people want...

... or can afford to drive.

[dbt]

4. Thank GAWD the Publicans were able to stop Hillary!

We might've had some relief from the gouging that has only escalated since 1993, had they not mounted their High Horses and demanded that she cease her eeeeeeeeeeeevil feminazi/lesbian/Wiccan/secular feminist work on containing the costs of healthcare.

Can you imagine the PROFITS that the Industry would have LOST if she had not been derailed from this eeeeeeeeeeeeevil?!?!!

:eyes:

PS: did I mention how eeeeeeeeevil it was of her to try to do something about the costs of healthcare?

[Daphne08]

10. This is NOT news to those of us out here who've

experienced this.

Wonderful ownership society we have, isn't it?

I'm sorry, but those Yahoos in Washington (President, Congress, think tank intellectuals, et al.) have NO concept of the American worker's woes these days despite their lofty proclamations to the contrary, and frankly, I often wonder if they even give a damn. :grr:

[WatchWhatISay]

11. My husband is contract

He pays for all of our family's insurance out of his own pocket. It is now up to $1200 a month. Before Bush was elected we paid 300 something. But we got our TAX CUT!
This is another issue we should all be bringing a lot of attention to.

[high density]

13. My employer gives me $10 every two weeks toward health insurance

The price just went up this month so I basically just took a pay cut.

[proud patriot]

14. Health Insurance Companies are bleeding America dry

:grr: