Business Seeks Strength in Numbers to Combat Rising Health Care Costs

Feb. 6, 2002
Insurance premiums will increase fairly dramatically for most employers in 2002, so many are banding together to create coalitions to leverage buying power for their insurance policies.

Last year employer-paid health care premiums rose 11 percent - far outpacing the rate of inflation.

The bite that insurance premiums take out of company budgets have a pattern of growing bigger every year, and employers are braced for more rate increases in 2002.

Rising health care costs have rekindled interest among business leaders to join forces and use their combined buying leverage to demand quality and sustainable savings. Regional employer health care coalitions are joining with groups like the National Business Coalition on Health to strengthen their effect on local markets and better manage health care quality.

"Health care, like politics, is local," said Gregg Lehman, president and CEO of NBCH. "While Washington may be the center of activity for policy decisions about health care, it is in the local markets that problems with cost, quality and access to healthcare are acutely felt."

That's why employers are joining non-profit business coalitions all over the country. By pooling their experience and interests, they can better attack issues such as rising health and worker's compensation insurance rates, proposed legislative initiatives that affect how they buy insurance, and the lack of comparable health care quality data.

NBCH, for example, includes more than 7,000 large and small businesses nationwide representing more than 34 million employees and their families.

edited by Sandy Smith ([email protected])

About the Author

EHS Today Staff

EHS Today's editorial staff includes:

Dave Blanchard, Editor-in-Chief: During his career Dave has led the editorial management of many of Endeavor Business Media's best-known brands, including IndustryWeekEHS Today, Material Handling & LogisticsLogistics Today, Supply Chain Technology News, and Business Finance. In addition, he serves as senior content director of the annual Safety Leadership Conference. With over 30 years of B2B media experience, Dave literally wrote the book on supply chain management, Supply Chain Management Best Practices (John Wiley & Sons, 2021), which has been translated into several languages and is currently in its third edition. He is a frequent speaker and moderator at major trade shows and conferences, and has won numerous awards for writing and editing. He is a voting member of the jury of the Logistics Hall of Fame, and is a graduate of Northern Illinois University.

Adrienne Selko, Senior Editor: In addition to her roles with EHS Today and the Safety Leadership Conference, Adrienne is also a senior editor at IndustryWeek and has written about many topics, with her current focus on workforce development strategies. She is also a senior editor at Material Handling & Logistics. Previously she was in corporate communications at a medical manufacturing company as well as a large regional bank. She is the author of Do I Have to Wear Garlic Around My Neck?, which made the Cleveland Plain Dealer's best sellers list.

Nicole Stempak, Managing Editor:  Nicole Stempak is managing editor of EHS Today and conference content manager of the Safety Leadership Conference.

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