Healthcare and Politics: A Love-Hate Relationship

The Debate Continues Over Healthcare

One of the most closely followed public debates in the past presidential elections as well as for future elections to come centers on healthcare reform.  Although all voters have some sort of vested interest in healthcare, it seems that employers may be the ones who are most affected by the overall outcome.  According to the US Census Bureau, 177 million Americans rely on employer-sponsored insurance for their health coverage.  As the US population increases, healthcare will become increasingly important.  Even moreso, the types of healthcare plans and options that companies offer have and will continue to be a key factor in employee recruitment and retention.  If you are a company owner or employer, BCBSNC offers a wide variety of health care plans for both small businesses as well as larger businesses.  Contact an IBD insurance agent today so that he or she may help you find the right kind of plan to fit your needs.

So, Who Favors What and Why?

Generally speaking, democrats tend to favor more broad, immediate changes in healthcare through legislation while Republicans tend to focus on changes that are taking place with regards to tax policies.  Recent as well as past political trends have shown that the healthcare system in the United States will more than likely continue to be a private-public partnership.  However, presently, no one is really sure what this "partnership" will look like.  Healthcare costs as well as spending is also something of great concern to most, if not all, employers and employees.  With spending increasing to approximately twice the rate of inflation, healthcare spending has been absorbing an increasing amount of both employers' profits as well as workers' salaries.  According to a recent Gallup Poll, American families consider healthcare to be of more importance than home ownership, energy costs, retirement savings and college expenses!  If you have questions about healthcare or health insurance in general, feel free to contact a qualified IBD insurance agent, who will be more than happy to guide you, step-by-step through the process.

The Problem that Won't Go Away: How BCBSNC is Helping

The problem with rising healthcare costs is made worse by the fact that the high cost of healthcare is directly proportionate to the increased growth of the number of uninsured people in the United States.  For example, when premium increases exceed personal income growth, health insurance suddenly becomes less affordable, which as actually led to many people dropping their health insurance plans all together and thus, joining the ever growing group of uninsured people who are employed.  However, what many people fail to realize or remember is that employer-sponsored insurance wasn't always around.  In fact, it was only introduced during World War II as an inexpensive way to recruit and retain employees in a tight labor market where wages were frozen by the federal government.  As a result, Americans became accustomed to having healthcare offered to them as a benefit of being employed.

The future of healthcare, from a political standpoint, will depend largely on what policies are put into place by future presidents.  Despite whatever changes may or may not take place to affect the future of healthcare, BCBSNC has continued and will continue to provide affordable, quality insurance to all people.  To find out more information regarding which insurance plan is best for you and your family or business, contact a qualified IBD agent today.