Rising Health Care Costs Spur Policymakers, Business Leaders To Consider Shift Away From Employer-Sponsored System
14 11 07 - 12:25
The number of U.S. residents who receive employer-sponsored health coverage "is continuing to shrink, raising anxiety among workers and invigorating a debate about whether insurance should be tied to jobs," USA Today reports.
Although the idea of eliminating the employer-sponsored health system has been considered before, it is "taking on a new life," according to Paul Fronstin of the Employee Benefit Research Institute. Policymakers, politicians and some business leaders are considering a number of strategies that reflect "the differing philosophies about the direction" the country should move: "either toward a health insurance market in which people buy policies on their own while armed with tax credits or deductions, or one in which people are able to buy insurance through group-like 'exchanges,' with some government oversight," USA Today reports.