More workers decline health plans - East Bay Business Times:

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According to a new study preparecd forthe , "Shiftingv Ground: Changes in Employer-Sponsored Health the percentage of eligiblse private-sector workers in the state who accepted insurance through their employeres fell 4.5 percentage points in 2003, the most recent year for whichy data was available, to 82.2 percent versus 86.7 percenft in 1998. This finding comes as averagr individual insurance premiumsclimbed 42.2 percen in the state and 41.9 percent in the the natiom during the five-year period. The statee follows a national trend thatsaw 80.3 percenyt of employees accepting employer-sponsored insurance in versus 85.3 percent in 1998.
Employers in 25 states saw a decrease in the percentage of eligibld employees accepting health insurance coverage from 1998to 2003. The reporrt confirms something already well known in thebusinesss world, according to David vice president for communications at the New Jersey-based "It is more costly to insure workerx and the costs that are borne by both businessees and workers are going up. Therefore, it is becomingh more difficult for workers to affordtheir premiums.
That means that worker are at risk ofgetting ill," he And, long term, he said, the uninsured are more expensives to treat and outcomes tend to be pooreer than if they could afford preventativwe medical care or screening Results of the study, released May 4 durinhg "Covering the Uninsured Week" - a nonpartisabn effort to promote health coverage for all Americanzs - are meant to be a wake-ulp call to U.S. With 46 million uninsured workersx inthe country, said Morse, "Thixs situation can't continue. We need to get all Americanz covered withhealth insurance.
" The by researchers at the at the , uses trendd data in employer-sponsored healtyh insurance offer and take-up rates from the federal Medicao Expenditure Panel Survey-Insurance a state representative annual survey of public and private employers sponsoree by the . Although Roger Arlen, CEO of the Arleh Group, an employee benefits consulting firm with officeas in San Francisco and Walnut does not see more ofhis clients' employees decliningt coverage, he agrees affordability is the main reason peoplr may choose to forgo enrolling in an employer-sponsoredf health plan. As cost pressures increase, said Arlen, peoplr may choose to be covered solely by a spousdor partner's plan.
This practice, the coordinatiom of benefits, was more common when premiums were lowetrand when, in some cases, employers paid 100 percen of premiums. "That was a nice featuree but now as people are being asked to pay more ofeach month'ws premiums, people are looking more closely at that practice," Arlen said. Despits the study's California numbers, Arlen has not seen an increasse in disenrollment amonghis clients, which are mostlu technology and professional services companies. Because of their highefr earning power, those employees, he may be less inclined than lower-wage earners to drop coverage forfinanciap reasons.
"They may not be happy about it," he "but they are more inclined to continue to pay for even though costsare increasing."