How Executives View the Proposed Increase in Government Role in Healthcare
Contrary to historical and popular belief, top executives and CEOs actually prefer an increased government role in fiscal spending and healthcare. In a recent survey conducted with over 300 employers, Kaiser Family Foundation, Purchaser Group Health and West Health found that over 90% of executives said the cost of healthcare will become unmanageable in the next 5-10 years and 85% of executives supported government intervention in controlling healthcare costs.
Despite a default preference of competition and market solutions, executives and CEOs have already felt the effects of rising healthcare costs and know that something needs to be done. The study found: Annual family premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance reached $21,342 in 2020, up 55% since 2010 and increased at a rate at least twice that of both wages (27%) and inflation (19%). During the same period, the average single employee deductible increased from $917 to $1,644 among workers with a deductible. (KFF, 2021) As more data and information becomes available, we’ve understood the broken healthcare system returns unequal results and creates a culture of dependency on the system. Employers are fed up and looking for solutions.
Hospitals and doctors currently charge employers 2.5 times what they would charge the same patient as a Medicare beneficiary. Meaning that employers are paying inflated rates for the same quality of care as Medicare. Just as the Federal government absorbs the remaining cost, employers are forced to do the same for inflated rates.
As we see above, 87% of executives believe their company’s healthcare costs will become unsustainable. Of the 300 respondents, 85% agreed that there needed to be an increased role of government in healthcare to address the rising cost issue.
Of the 300 respondents, 83% of them said that the government's role in healthcare would be better for business and 86% said that it would be better for their employees, understanding that if the employer's health care cost rises, so does the premiums for their employees.
Employers surveyed agreed that policy makers need to advocate for a restriction of competition in the healthcare marketplace because of the cost inflation that's resulting. More than ⅓ of executives agreed that there needed to be a cap on how much hospitals, specialists, and other providers as well as drug prices, can charge. Additionally, executives supported lowered Medicare eligibility age, for the same cost saving potential.
Source:
Palosky, C. (2021, April 28). Vast majority of large employers surveyed say broader government role will be necessary to control health costs and provide coverage, survey finds. Retrieved April 29, 2021, from https://www.kff.org/health-reform/press-release/vast-majority-of-large-employers-surveyed-say-broader-government-role-will-be-necessary-to-control-health-costs-and-provide-coverage-survey-finds/