Ahead of the new health-care law, small firms worry about crossing the crucial 50-person threshold — and about rising premium rates Emily Maltby at the WSJ Law blog reports on increasing concerns about the forthcoming healthcare laws among small business owners. This seems to be a prominent issue and concern among small business owners, and has been noted in most every major media outlet in recent weeks, from the New York Times to Forbes, CNN, US News & World Report, FoxNews, The Economist, The Hill, the Washington Post, and more:
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2013 California Filings: Aetna: 22 percent. Anthem Blue Cross: 26 percent. Blue Shield of California: 20 percent. Reed Abelson at the New York Times reported last week that health insurance companies across the country are seeking and winning double-digit increases in premiums for some customers, even though one of the biggest objectives of the Obama administration’s health care law was to stem the rapid rise in insurance costs for consumers. More:
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Health Costs on His Mind, Small Factory Owner Looks for Ways to Cope With New Law Emily Maltby and Sarah E. Needleman at The Wall Street Journal talk with a small business owner outside of Chicago who’s considering ways to manage growth, preserve profit, and comply with the new healthcare law. Automation Systems, with with sales of about $1.6 million for 2012, currently employs 40 full-time workers, mostly low-paid employees who monitor the factory equipment. If sales were to continue to rise, the plant could, conceivably, employ 50 full-time workers in 2014. Under the new health-care law, the Affordable Care Act,…
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Insurers Say Rates Can Surge After Hospitals Buy Private Physician Practices; Medicare Spending Rises, Too Anne Wilde Matthews at the Wall Street Journal reports that the increased number of physicians going to work for hospitals is actually resulting in higher costs for patients. Hospitals are acquiring physician practices and integrating them into hospital services, and while the stated goal is to improve care coordination, eliminate duplication of services and boost efficiency. However, Medicare and private insurers pay more for hospital services than the same service if done outside the hospital, such as in a doctor’s office. One example:
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Far fewer small employers claimed the health insurance tax credit for small businesses in the health care reform law than were eligible, according to a new government report. So reports Michael Cohn at Accounting Today: The Small Employer Health Insurance Tax Credit was included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 as a way to help small businesses pay for the cost of health insurance. But the complexities of claiming the credit contributed to a relatively low popularity for the tax credit among both small businesses and their tax preparers. While 170,300 small employers claimed the…
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Americans with employer-sponsored insurance had fewer hospital stays and visited outpatient clinics less frequently from 2009 to 2010, but prices for inpatient and outpatient care rose by about 10% or more, according to a Health Care Cost Institute analysis of more than 3 billion claims for medical care. The average price of generic drugs fell over the same period, but prices for brand-name drugs rose, the analysis found. The Washington Post opines that “Data Trove May Shed Light on Healthcare Uncertainties”: How much do hospitals and doctors actually charge insurers for their services? How much and which of those services…
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Becker’s ASC Review, a site that provides Practical Business, Legal, and Clinical Guidance for Ambulatory Surgery Centers, recently published an article on benchmarks that ASC administrators often neglect. These are important benchmarks not just for ASCs, but for any physician executives, healthcare practice managers, and the valuators and consultants they work and plan with. An excerpt: Chance Sherer, manager with VMG Health, discusses several benchmarks that ASC administrators often forget to include in their data collection efforts. Q: Could you discuss several benchmarks that surgery center leaders overlook or under-use in their benchmarking efforts? Chance Sherer: All ASCs are different. They…