Higher Premiums and Co-Pays for Employer Sponsored Health Insurance in 2011

A recent Washington Post article discussed the expected rise of health care costs for employers to increase to 9 to 12% for 2011. Employers plan to combat this by utilizing cost-saving methods to bring the increase down to 6%. Methods employers are considering include health management or wellness programs, increasing employee share of premiums, providing plans with less benefits, and selecting plans with higher co-payments and/or coinsurance.

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The article provides a good example of how the rising health care expenditures, coupled with the economy and some health reform provisions, is having a significant impact on employer sponsored health insurance. If cost-shifting from employer to employee continues to increase, at some point, the United States' basis of coverage from employment might need to be revisited. Employers might not want to be responsible for providing coverage if it means they are going to be bankrupt. This makes me wonder about what subsidy amount for small businesses to provide coverage will be sufficient to incentivize them to continue doing so? What penalty amount on big businesses will be enough to motivate them to provide coverage?