The Last Generation: Health Benefits Managers
At the 29th Annual Health Benefits + Expo in Clearwater, Florida, the audience considered if they would be the last generation of health benefits managers. The session started with an important question. Will employers still be providing their employees with health insurance 10 years from now – in 2030?
At 18 percent of GDP, business leaders know that the cost of health care in the U.S. is unsustainable. Employers also bear the burden of providing coverage to half of all Americans through employer-sponsored insurance. But what choices do they have? Where might they find a solution?
Switzerland. While “Medicare for All” gets front-page coverage, an alternative vision is to consolidate health insurance from four systems (employer, Medicaid, Medicare, and Obamacare) to one. During the course of the next hour, the group explored:
- The current system’s complexity using business leaders as examples (Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett, and JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon)
- The Swiss health insurance system, including its nationwide exchange, compulsory coverage, basic and supplemental plans, financing system, private insurers, and consumer behavior
- The Swiss exchange. There was lots of head nodding as the employers in the room—many of whom had just completed open enrollment—considered a future without being responsible for it.
The audience had terrific questions, especially about the role employers play in the health of their employees in Switzerland. They were pleased to learn that employers are involved; in fact, they have resources to do so given that they aren’t using them to pay health insurance or manage health benefits.
Results? Seventy percent of the audience said yes, employers will be providing employee health insurance in 2030. Thirty percent said no. In the meantime, these health benefits managers are Mastering Health Insurance. Thank you to the peer review team from Miami, Florida; Newport, Rhode Island; and Basel, Switzerland.