Hey dude... The light at the end of the tunnel? It's a freaking train, and it's coming to run you over....
Seriously, can there be a more desperate situation than the state of US Healthcare? The population is
aging, the mostly good capitalist society creates drug companies that
create billion dollar markets out of vapor, and you are in the middle
of the fray, trying to be the Daddy Warbucks of healthcare by providing
medical and Rx to your workforce.
That's what you're supposed to do as
an employer, right?
Sure, that's been part of the employer role. But, it's getting ready to be very painful.
From the Associated Press:
"By 2017, total health care spending will double to more than $4
trillion a year, accounting for one of every $5 the nation spends, the
federal government projects.
The 6.7 percent annual increase in spending - nearly three times the
rate of inflation_ will be largely driven by higher prices and an
increased demand for care, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services said Monday. Other factors in the mix include a growing and
aging population. The first wave of baby boomers become eligible for
Medicare beginning in 2011."
That means total health-care spending in the year
2017 will average
out to
$13,101 per person. By contrast, that spending in
2006 worked
out to an average of
$7,026 per person.
WOW... 6.7% actually sounded OK to me, until I realized that
compounding, which is good for my 401k, really hurts when it impacts
the expense side of the P&L.
If it were a division, you'd shut it down tomorrow. But it's not.
