In many cases, an employer-issued health care insurance policy is viewed as a solution to medical debt and high out-of-pocket costs for coverage. However, a new study by the Center for American Progress (CAP) shows that increasingly, employers are shifting more of the onus of medical expenses onto employees.
"The overall growth in health-care costs…is one reason employers are shifting more costs to their workers," explains Ben Sutherly of the Columbus Dispatch. "Many of those companies are turning to high-deductible plans, for example. The National Business Group on Health reported that a third of large employers intend to offer only health plans with high deductibles to their workers this year."
Since 2007, the cost of health care for employees has risen by 21 percent, while the cost for employers has grown by just 14 percent. This 50 percent difference between employers and their workers illustrates how disproportionately each party is shouldering health care costs in 2015. If this trend continues, it's likely that over the next 8 years, that disparity could become even more dramatic.
With more personal financial responsibility on employees to furnish payments for medical bills, more may find themselves in a cycle of debt. As a result, hospitals and care facilities may be inundated by a high volume of claims, debts and payments to pursue. Pressure on individuals to afford the rising cost of healthcare puts pressure on the entire financial structure of the health care industry.
When health care administrators choose to outsource receivables management, they alleviate the burden of an overwhelming backlog of cases. By focusing on the most important files in their caseloads, accounts receivable administrators can do their work more efficiently.