SmartPulse — our weekly reader poll in Smartbrief on Workforce — tracks feedback from leading managers and HR practitioners. We run the poll question each Wednesday in our e-newsletter.
Last week, we asked: Are your employees bearing a higher portion of health care costs today than before?
- Yes — employees cover a higher percentage of health care costs, 62%
- No — employees pay more but so does the company, 30%
- No — our health care costs have stayed the same or gone down, 7%
- I don’t know, 2%
I was actually a little bit surprised by the results. From feedback I’ve received, it seems like more than 6 in 10 employers are passing off more of the cost to employees but the poll says otherwise. In light of expected double-digit increases in health premium costs next year, I would expect more employers to shift a higher cost burden to employees as everyone gets squeezed.
Lance Haun is community director for ERE.net, the main guy over at Rehaul.com and a member of the SmartBrief on Workforce Advisory Board.