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| CRBJ Home > January 2007 | |||||
We need health-care solutions nowBy Bud Gayhart
There have been speeches, campaign promises, and committees created to develop an affordable health care system for Wisconsin, and yet we seem to be no closer to a solution. For small business owners, the issue of affordable health care has reached critical mass and solutions are needed now. The rising cost of health-care insurance premiums is a frequent topic of conversation among business owners. There have been double-digit increases to insurance costs every year for far too long, and family plan coverage can now exceed $1,500 per month. Many small-business owners are facing annual premium increases above ten percent for 2007. Insurance costs, like any other business expense, hit the bottom line, reducing profits. Entrepreneurs continually look for ways to reduce their expenses and become more competitive. With healthcare premium costs continually rising, that becomes more challenging. What solutions are there? Wisconsin businesses are both resilient and creative. Owners have sought out "best practices" or developed their own. At Highsmith Inc., the company has taken a proactive approach to managing healthcare premium costs. Since 1990, when their insurance premiums jumped by 53 percent, Highsmith has aggressively pursued methods to reduce healthcare premiums while simultaneously improving em-ployee health. What they developed is an incentive plan that encourages worker participation in healthy activities. The company adopted a program that encourages worker well-being through a diverse offering of specialized courses. Highsmith also provides aerobics classes on site and stocks vending machines with low-fat options sold at attractive prices. Insurance premium costs have been well managed as indicated by premium increases in 2002 of 2.9 percent and 2003 of 3.1 percent. Another example of a company taking a proactive approach to managing premiums is Mercury Marine. While not a small business, Mercury Marine recognized the need to better manage healthcare costs and adopted many of the practices that Highsmith embraces. Mercury has been able to hold premium increases at or below 5 percent for the past five years. That is an amazing number given the size of their work force. Mercury is one of a number of companies that has recognized smoking as one of the driving forces in rising healthcare costs. In 2004, the American Cancer Society reported in "The Cost of Smoking to Business" that employees who smoke had an average monthly insurance premium for health care of $1,145, while nonsmoking employees averaged $762. Because of this, many health insurers offer discounts for businesses that provide smoke-free environments and smoking cessation programs. Some companies go a step further and adopt a "no smoking" policy, screening out potential applicants based upon their smoking habits. While the reasoning behind such a policy is clear, one could argue that it is an invasion of privacy or discriminatory, so business owners should consult legal counsel before implementing such a policy. With the elections now completed and some new faces moving into legislative offices, we hope to see strong initiatives to develop a model that will allow small business owners to provide health-care benefits to their employees at a cost that will not break the bank. There are no easy solutions and some of the changes may involve behavior modification. We recognize that this will be a process that requires time. We have seen Wisconsin companies adopt creative solutions, and we need to look to some of those best practices to develop a system that both provides affordable healthcare and improves the health status for everyone. madison.com ©2009 Capital Newspapers. All rights reserved. |
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