Wednesday, November 14, 2012

News on Containing Costs Goes from Bad to Worse

The employer benefits firm Mercer released its annual survey of health plans today, and for those wishing to “bend the curve” on health costs, the results were not promising.  Mercer’s survey concluded that employers’ health costs will rise 4.1% this year, and even more (5.0%) next year; if firms do not take steps (e.g., raising co-payments, etc.) to control spending, costs would rise by a whopping 7.4% in 2013.  Recall that four years ago, candidate Obama promised repeatedly that his health plan would CUT premiums by an average of $2,500 per family.  Not only has that premium reduction not happened – premiums have risen by $3,065 since Barack Obama was elected President – but cost increases continue to grow unabated.

In fact, today’s Mercer study suggests one way Obamacare will accelerate the growth of health costs – by limiting usage of consumer-driven health plans.  The survey notes that an “enrollment shift” to consumer-driven plans – which have more than tripled in popularity since 2007 – has “helped to hold down overall cost increase[s].”  Consumer-driven plans help to slow cost growth because average costs are nearly $2,200 lower per year than traditional health insurance costs.  Unfortunately, several provisions in Obamacare will move health coverage in the exact opposite direction, by restricting access to HSAs and consumer-driven plans – therefore raising, not lowering, health costs.  Three separate provisions in the statute, and regulations implementing the law, will reduce access to HSA plans:

  1. Obamacare’s essential health benefits package contains new restrictions on deductibles and cost-sharing, which will prevent at least some current HSA plans from being offered.
  2. Obamacare’s medical loss ratio regulations also impose new restrictions that studies show will hit HSA plans particularly hard, and could force individuals to change their current form of coverage.
  3. The Obamacare statute does not specify that cash contributions made to an HSA will be counted towards the new federal actuarial value standards.  And a February bulletin released by HHS in advance of upcoming rulemaking indicates that under the Administration’s approach, not all contributions into an HSA will count towards the new minimum federal standards – meaning some HSA policies will not be considered “government-approved.”

Both individually and collectively, these provisions in Obamacare will have the effect of limiting access to new and innovative consumer-directed health plans like Health Savings Accounts.  Not only will these onerous regulations prevent many Americans from keeping the plans they have and like – by limiting access to consumer-directed health plans, Obamacare will also raise, not lower, health costs for many Americans.