David Livingston

Companies Looking to Cut Healthcare Costs

March 12, 2010

FROM RETAILWIRE:
No surprise; employers are looking to cut healthcare costs. That's the finding of CVS Caremark's annual survey of employers' priorities for pharmacy benefit management services in 2010. Is it within the power of businesses to cut their healthcare costs without cutting benefits to employees?      [more...]

Gene makes a great point. Twenty years ago my employer provided key people with an auto to drive. Then it got to be expensive to provide a free vehicle and car insurance. Too much liability with execs drinking and driving. So instead they just gave us a car allowance of $300-400 a month and told us to get our own car and auto insurance. Good drivers made out and pocketed some tax free cash. Bad drivers lost a benefit they had been abusing.

Let's do the same with health insurance. Give employees an allowance to buy their own. Healthy people might make out well, sick people will pay more, and some will choose no insurance, pocket the cash and take their chances. If employers got out of the health care business it would save a lot of overhead and eliminate redundant HR positions.