November 2007
By Dale J. Venturini
President and CEORhode Island Hospitality and Tourism Association
With more than 67,000 employees, the hospitality and tourism industry is one of the state’s largest private sector employers. Its sheer size makes the industry integral to the nation’s healthcare debate, and finding ways to provide meaningful healthcare for employees at an affordable cost to employers is essential to the future of our industry and our nation.
The facts are alarming. Healthcare costs are rising, and so is the number of uninsured Americans. Five years ago, seven in 10 American businesses offered their employees health insurance. Today, it’s six in 10. In Rhode Island, the number of uninsured has doubled in the past six years, and medical costs have been rising by as much as 13 percent every year.
Small businesses – the majority of businesses that make up the hospitality industry are small businesses – often have the most trouble. Six in 10 uninsured employees work for small businesses. The biggest barrier in offering healthcare to employees is the high costs, and small businesses, meanwhile, have trouble negotiating with insurers to limit annual rate increases. They pay nearly 10 percent more than larger businesses.
Our elected officials need to find solutions to make health insurance more accessible, to improve efficiency and cut costs, and to make it more portable.
There are many ways to make health insurance more accessible. They can facilitate voluntary, multi-state health insurance purchasing pools; make it easier for small business and individuals to participate in health savings accounts and flexible spending accounts; increase tax incentives for employers, employees and non-employees to purchase healthcare; and provide fairer tax treatment of healthcare costs for the self employed.
Small business owners are not medical experts, but they know how to cut costs. Examples of how to improve efficiency and cut costs include making medical information more available and transparent; to manage medical liability appropriately; to reduce pressure on healthcare costs; and use technology to give healthcare consumers better, richer data so they can make more informed and more economical treatment decisions.
The hospitality workforce, by its very nature, is mobile and transitional. With that in mind, our elected officials should make it easier for hospitality workers to carry coverage with them from job to job.
Government mandates that force employers to provide a certain level of healthcare coverage or to pay a minimum percent of payroll toward healthcare overlook the economic realities of running a business. They also ignore the root problem of escalating costs, and take away all flexibility employers have to design coverage that meets their employees needs. Healthcare coverage must remain voluntary. Mandates are not the way to increase coverage. Finding cost effective solutions and curbing the runaway costs of healthcare are the way to increase coverage.
The Rhode Island Hospitality and Tourism Association, in partnership with the Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner, is hosting a HEALTHpact Seminar in October. HEALTHpact offers an alternative to high deductibles or reduced coverage by helping employers and employees afford health coverage and promote health and wellness at the same time.
Currently, HEALTHpact plans are offered through the state’s two major insurers – Blue Cross and United Healthcare. The plans from the insurers differ, but the benefits and “wellness” requirements are similar. To qualify for the HEALTHpact plans, which are available to businesses with less than 50 employees, employees must complete a “health risk assessment” and agree to exercise, eat healthful foods and pledge not to smoke or promise to take steps to quit.
In Rhode Island, the average small business pays $398 per month for an individual plan or $1,100 for a family plan. The average Blue Cross HEALTHpact plan costs $321 for an individual; the price for the UnitedHealthcare option is $310. For both, the deductible is $750.
HEALTHpact plans are not the magic cure to the healthcare crisis in Rhode Island and in this country, but are a good first step in helping to insure our employees. For more information and to see how to apply for a HEALTHpact plan, visit http://www.healthpactplan.com/.
By Dale J. Venturini
President and CEORhode Island Hospitality and Tourism Association
With more than 67,000 employees, the hospitality and tourism industry is one of the state’s largest private sector employers. Its sheer size makes the industry integral to the nation’s healthcare debate, and finding ways to provide meaningful healthcare for employees at an affordable cost to employers is essential to the future of our industry and our nation.
The facts are alarming. Healthcare costs are rising, and so is the number of uninsured Americans. Five years ago, seven in 10 American businesses offered their employees health insurance. Today, it’s six in 10. In Rhode Island, the number of uninsured has doubled in the past six years, and medical costs have been rising by as much as 13 percent every year.
Small businesses – the majority of businesses that make up the hospitality industry are small businesses – often have the most trouble. Six in 10 uninsured employees work for small businesses. The biggest barrier in offering healthcare to employees is the high costs, and small businesses, meanwhile, have trouble negotiating with insurers to limit annual rate increases. They pay nearly 10 percent more than larger businesses.
Our elected officials need to find solutions to make health insurance more accessible, to improve efficiency and cut costs, and to make it more portable.
There are many ways to make health insurance more accessible. They can facilitate voluntary, multi-state health insurance purchasing pools; make it easier for small business and individuals to participate in health savings accounts and flexible spending accounts; increase tax incentives for employers, employees and non-employees to purchase healthcare; and provide fairer tax treatment of healthcare costs for the self employed.
Small business owners are not medical experts, but they know how to cut costs. Examples of how to improve efficiency and cut costs include making medical information more available and transparent; to manage medical liability appropriately; to reduce pressure on healthcare costs; and use technology to give healthcare consumers better, richer data so they can make more informed and more economical treatment decisions.
The hospitality workforce, by its very nature, is mobile and transitional. With that in mind, our elected officials should make it easier for hospitality workers to carry coverage with them from job to job.
Government mandates that force employers to provide a certain level of healthcare coverage or to pay a minimum percent of payroll toward healthcare overlook the economic realities of running a business. They also ignore the root problem of escalating costs, and take away all flexibility employers have to design coverage that meets their employees needs. Healthcare coverage must remain voluntary. Mandates are not the way to increase coverage. Finding cost effective solutions and curbing the runaway costs of healthcare are the way to increase coverage.
The Rhode Island Hospitality and Tourism Association, in partnership with the Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner, is hosting a HEALTHpact Seminar in October. HEALTHpact offers an alternative to high deductibles or reduced coverage by helping employers and employees afford health coverage and promote health and wellness at the same time.
Currently, HEALTHpact plans are offered through the state’s two major insurers – Blue Cross and United Healthcare. The plans from the insurers differ, but the benefits and “wellness” requirements are similar. To qualify for the HEALTHpact plans, which are available to businesses with less than 50 employees, employees must complete a “health risk assessment” and agree to exercise, eat healthful foods and pledge not to smoke or promise to take steps to quit.
In Rhode Island, the average small business pays $398 per month for an individual plan or $1,100 for a family plan. The average Blue Cross HEALTHpact plan costs $321 for an individual; the price for the UnitedHealthcare option is $310. For both, the deductible is $750.
HEALTHpact plans are not the magic cure to the healthcare crisis in Rhode Island and in this country, but are a good first step in helping to insure our employees. For more information and to see how to apply for a HEALTHpact plan, visit http://www.healthpactplan.com/.
