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...]

I'm not complaining. Our premiums went down 14% this year on the same coverage. All this nonsense talk about taking generics instead of brand name. That's been the policy at most companies now for decades. That cost has already been cut twenty years ago. I never had a health insurance policy that allowed or paid for brand name drugs unless it was the only one available. While some generics are not available in the USA, we need to open up the borders and bring these generics in from Canada and India where they are available.

Anytime I started a new job, I was required to take a complete physical. Companies need to do this more in hiring and require full disclosure of pre-existing illnesses, of both the employee and immediate family members. Otherwise they are on the hook for extra health care costs.

Both of my last corporate employers were self-insured and neither of them were taking strong enough measures to maintain a healthier work force.