Less Small Businesses Offering Health Insurance
Posted on September 19, 2005
EcommerceTimes.com reports that an annual survey has found that less small businesses are offering health insurance to workers. The study also found that health insurance costs have risen over 9% on average in 2005 and rose over 11% on average in 2004.
Released yesterday, the annual survey of employers' health benefits found that for the first time in nearly a decade, less than half of businesses with nine or fewer workers offer health insurance. Among those small firms, 47 percent provided coverage in 2005, down from 58 percent in 2002 and 53 percent in 1996.Clearly the high costs of health insurance is why less small businesses are offering coverage. The article also said the employers that do offer coverage are often opting for less attractive plans like health plans with higher deductibles."Small businesses have made the call that to stay alive, health care isn't something they can provide. I think it's a tragic calculation," said Peter Lee, president of Pacific Business Group on Health, which buys health insurance for large employers.
"The danger of that is that small business is the driver of the American economy," he said.
The survey also found that the cost of health insurance for working Americans grew by 9.2 percent this year, ending four consecutive years of double-digit increases but still far outpacing the rate of inflation. Premiums increased an average of 11.2 percent in 2004.