Speakers relate findings on health care

Rising health care costs are stifling new and existing small businesses and putting the health and finances of increasingly more citizens at risk.

That was the message presented to Leawood Chamber of Commerce members last week by representatives of two regional health care organizations that recently conducted a joint survey on the impact health care costs are having on area companies.

Brenda Sharpe, president and CEO of the REACH Health Care Foundation, and Steve Roling, president and CEO of Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City, presented the survey findings as well as other observations on health care issues.

The presentation at the chamber’s breakfast gathering comes as Congress and the nation continue to debate the complex and controversial health care issue.

Roling told the group that no one in the room not covered by Medicare is exempt from losing insurance coverage.

“Many of you might be among the insured, but tomorrow you might lose your job and not have that coverage,” Roling said. “So when you talk about ‘those people,’ realize we could be talking about you and me. We simply have to find a better system.”

Even if newly unemployed people are able to extend their current medical coverage or find a new insurer, the costs can be daunting, and often unaffordable, he said.

“More than 20,000 Americans die in the prime of their life each year because of a lack of health care coverage,” Roling said. “That is not happening in any other developed country in the world.”

Neither Sharpe nor Roling said they were recommending any specific components for a national health care plan, but they said there is a critical need for changes that make medical coverage more accessible and affordable for both businesses and individuals.

“We are hearing more and more business say they are really having their bottom lines impacted by heath care,” Sharpe said.

As for the individual, a free dental clinic staged in Manhattan, Kan., in February was cited by Sharpe as an illustration of how the need for health care services is at a point of desperation for many.

“More than 1,000 people were in line in the cold for treatment. There were 2,900 teeth pulled out and 1,700 fillings put in that day. They carried the teeth out in buckets. This is the only option these people have because they simply cannot afford a simple extraction,” said Sharpe, who stressed that those seeking care were not just the unemployed and the poverty stricken.

“They were regular, everyday hardworking people. Many have to wait so long (for treatment) because of the limited resources they have,” she said.

At the same time individuals are facing those sorts of pressing basic needs, businesses are facing difficult choices and demands regarding medical insurance coverage for their employees, the speakers said.

There were 156 respondents to the survey of regional businesses, and 80 percent of those were classified as small businesses.

Of companies responding, 70 percent said it is somewhat or very likely they would pass more of the costs for health care coverage on to employees in the next three to five years.

That comes as cost for coverage continues to escalate. In 2008, employer health insurance premiums increased 5 percent, or twice the rate of inflation, according to the National Coalition on Health Care.

“It is stifling entrepreneurship,” Sharpe said. “Some can’t afford to start a new business right now” because of health care-related costs.

Many of the surveyed small businesses that provide medical benefits to employees responded that health care costs are causing them to be uncompetitive.

Here are some of the comments written by survey respondents when asked what they want governmental leaders to know about health impacts on their business:

“Health care costs will force the shutdown of my business.”

“It has a significant impact on the growth of a company and negatively impacts hiring decisions for very small companies that offer health care.”

“Its cost is significant to our bottom line.”

Others wrote, regarding their views on a possible non-employer based health care system:

“This would help insure survival of my company.”

“It will make it more likely that we will consider hiring additional employees.”

“I have lost staff members due to lack of health benefits. A non-employer health care system would be a tremendous asset.”

“I can only believe that a public health care system will be more expensive, more difficult to control and limit the providers and services to our community and associates.”

The first three of those comments came from companies with 100 or fewer employees, while the last one was from a company with more than 250 workers. Roling and Sharpe said the survey indicated that larger firms are better able to adapt to rising health care costs.

Trackback(0)

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Write comment