New York State Department of Financial Services recently announced an average increase for small businesses in the state of just 4.2%, reflecting one of the lowest figures in a long time. Since this is the average, there will be a number of plans and businesses which will see an actual decrease in premiums. This will come as a great relief for so many businesses who have seen their revenues plunge during this unfortunate period of the Covid-19 pandemic.
So why is this happening? This is a direct result of the postponement of nearly all elective surgeries, either because a person has decided to put off their surgery out of concern of the Covid-19, or the hospitals and other facilities could not accommodate them. For those people who had planned on that knee or hip surgery, or countless other elective surgeries, they have chosen to wait.
But what goes down must come up......or something like that. At least when it comes to healthcare premiums. The wait for these elective surgeries will not last forever. In fact, I anticipate that once this pandemic is under control, and people feel hospitals and other medical facilities are providing a safe environment, the backlog of these surgeries on top of what would be the normal amount, will create an overload of activity.......resulting in a higher than average increase in healthcare premiums. Until that time, any reduction and savings in healthcare premiums is always quite welcomed. It will be particularly helpful during the next year or two as businesses try to reestablish their financial wellbeing.
These upcoming reduction in healthcare premiums are not going to just help all businesses, but also their employees. These days, many employees are already contributing a large percentage of their healthcare premiums, particularly if they are also covering their spouse and/or children. Exacerbating this cost of premium, is the inclusion of enormous deductibles and painful coinsurance levels......all introduced to "reduce" the cost of healthcare.......until you need it!
Please contact me at robrien@therpogroup.com if you'd like to learn more.
Rory O'Brien
RPO Group, Inc
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