In the June 3
rd issue of the Wall Street Journal, there appeared an
op ed piece by Karl Rove. He had an interesting perspective on the shape of health reform now that it has passed. As he stated in his piece, the Rasmussen poll reported the
week after health reform's passage in March that 55% of likely voters supported its repeal while 42% did not. A Rasmussen poll last month showed that 56% backed repeal; 39% did not. It seems that as time has passed since its passage the American public is starting to lose support for the bill.
In the employee benefit world between 70%-80% of all employer groups renew their employee benefits in January. We will start seeing renewals hitting the streets for these groups around the July to August time period. All indications show employers will be hit with another double digit increase in premiums. In this economy employers will be hard pressed to absorb these increases. They cannot raise their prices to offset the cost of healthcare. They will be unable to pass along the increases to their employees since they are already stretched to the max. Hard choices will have to be made. As the renewal season is just around the corner look for public support to continue to erode as more details start to surface on the implications of implementing PPACA.
We as Americans have a short attention span and desire a quick fix to everything. Just look at how we want a quick fix to the recent oil spill off the Gulf. Unfortunately, there is no quick fix to the Gulf crisis or the healthcare crisis. With double digit increases about to take place and so many unanswered questions on how PPACA will be implemented, the need for aggressive cost measurements are necessary. If cost containment controls are not implemented aggressively, employers have no other choice than to drop coverage for employees and 2014 (when majority of PPACA measures go into effect) will be a distant dream.