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What election-year healthcare reform proposals mean for the future of employer-sponsored health insurance

As the presidential campaign reaches a fever pitch, candidates on both sides of the aisle are promulgating their positions on everything from fiscal policy to the war in Iraq. One of the most closely followed public debates centers on healthcare reform. Although all voters have a vested interest in the discussion, voters who are also employers may be most affected by its outcome.

If you are an employer, spiraling healthcare costs are eating away at your bottom line. According to the US Census Bureau, 177 million Americans rely on employer-sponsored insurance for their health coverage. At 16 percent of the US economy and growing, healthcare is big business—maybe even your business. Moreover, the health plan options companies offer have become key factors in employee recruitment and retention. Current (and prospective) employees are asking a number of questions. How comprehensive is the existing coverage? How many choices do I have? How much is it costing (going to cost) me? Can I do better elsewhere?

It’s no wonder, then, that healthcare consistently ranks as one of the top domestic policy issues on the minds of Americans and that during election years healthcare policy becomes a focal point. (See Figure 1, next page.) Employers, employees, and politicians alike agree that the system is not sustainable and that there is no clear path ahead. As one might expect, Democrats differ from Republicans in their respective approaches to healthcare reform. Generally, Democrats favor broader and more immediate changes through legislation, while their Republican counterparts focus primarily on changes to tax policy as the means of transforming the system.

However, all of the major candidates agree that a single-payer model is not tenable and that going forward, our healthcare system will continue to be a public-private partnership. Just what that partnership will look like is the key question. And top of mind for employers is cutting through the election-year hype and determining what it really means to the future of their businesses.