Progressive business group says health insurance system is at risk
30 01 08 - 11:16
January 30, 2008
By Louis Porter Vermont Press Bureau
MONTPELIER - A group of progressive business owners warned Tuesday that the rising cost of health insurance may soon mean they are unable to pay for workers' coverage.
Health coverage for the 91 workers and their family members on his company's insurance plan cost twice as much as the rent on his 52,000-square-foot Northfield factory, said John Wall, of furniture maker Wall Goldfinger Inc.
Even though his employees now pay for a portion of their own coverage, his company will still fork over about $320,000 to provide health insurance this year, Wall said.
And periodically his company has to study what health insurance options are available in an effort to spend less, Wall said.
"Every two years we have to do a large research project," he said.
Another thing that bothers him is that large companies employing spouses of some of his workers are providing insur-ance that is more expensive or less comprehensive than his company's. That means he provides family insurance, Wall said.
"I am covering the big companies that can afford it," he said.
Will Patten, executive director of Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility, of which Wall's firm is a member, said the state needs to step in and change how health insurance is run. For one thing, all Vermonters should be in a single risk pool, he said. For another all Vermonters, and all Vermont businesses, should pay into the system, not just companies like his members that feel an obligation to pay for health insurance for their workers.
"Socially responsible businesses are expected to shoulder an undue burden," he said.
A recent survey of the group's member businesses found that more than 60 percent of them spent more than 10 percent of their payroll on health insurance. Many of those businesses are paying significantly more, and offering less complete or more expensive insurance to their workers, according to the survey.
The employer-sponsored insurance system may collapse under the cost, the spokespeople for the organization said.
"It cannot sustain the weight that has been put on it," VBSR board member Leslie Nulty said.
Another worrisome trend is that as more employers move to higher deductible health plans, workers are less likely to get preventive health care.
"We are setting ourselves up for an explosion of costs down the road," Nulty said.
Contact Louis Porter at louis.porter@rutlandherald.com.