Quote:
Originally Posted by PaulS
Cost Deflators
The key "deflator" for healthcare cost growth is expected to be the "Cadillac tax" on insurance premiums that will take effect in 2019. To avoid the 40% excise tax, employers are already altering their benefits designs to increase by shifting more of the expense onto employees. The percentage of employers who are only offering high-deductible health plans has grown from 13% in 2012 to 25% in 2015.
"We are starting to see more and more employees share in the cost of their health plans," Isgur says.
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Again, what they are calling "cost deflators", are thing sthat cause premiums to decrease, not things that reduce the overall cost of healthcare. If my employers swithces to a high-deductible plan, my premium will go down, but that doesn't mean my out-of-pocket expenses will go down. So what's the value in knowing that my premiums are increasing at a slower pace, but that's offset by higher deductibles or co-pays?