FEWER SMALL EMPLOYERS OFFERING HEALTH INSURANCE

From USA Today:

Fewer small employers offered health insurance this year, despite the widespread availability of new, lower-cost high-deductible insurance plans, a survey released today by benefit firm Mercer shows.

Advocates of the high-deductible plans touted them as one solution to the growing number of uninsured, expecting the plans to appeal to small employers, who would continue to offer health insurance as a result.

"That's not happening," says Blaine Bos, a Mercer partner and one of the study authors. "In fact, the reverse is happening."

The study of nearly 3,000 employers found that the percentage of employers with 200 workers or fewer offering any kind of health insurance fell to 61% this year from 63% in 2006.

That drop came even as the cost of high-deductible plans with tax-free savings accounts averaged $5,970 per worker per year. That was $700 less than a comparable plan without a savings account and far lower than the $7,120 for the average HMO, the study says.

The finding bolsters concern that one of the biggest hurdles any state or national health reform effort will face is the question of what is affordable, says Bos. "Defining that number will be a real political and public policy issue as this debate stays on the table."