Health Care Costs

Employers may have temporarily exhausted their ability to hold down increases in their annual health-benefit costs. For several years, employers have whittled the annual growth rate in their total health-benefit costs - by embracing new types of insurance plans, by redesigning plans and by shifting more costs to employees. But the National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans, released this week by Mercer Health & Benefits, says those efforts appear to have hit a plateau. Nationally, total health-benefit costs to employers rose by 6.1 percent this year, the same rate as last year and the same as expected next year, the Mercer report said, based on a survey of 3,000 U.S. employers.

As their union leader read a statement, 50 teachers stood silently in the audience at a Baltimore County Council meeting this month, each holding a piece of paper with a message: "Quality Educators Deserve Quality Salaries and Quality Benefits." The county teachers union is in the early stages of contract negotiations with school administrators, whose budget is ultimately approved by the council. And while salaries tend to take priority, one of the biggest issues identified by all sides this year is health care benefits.

At the State House, enthusiasm for health care reform has been tempered by the realities of a recession and starkly declining tax revenues. A further expansion of Medicaid eligibility will likely be put on hold. Ditto for an ambitious plan to lower health care costs and extend insurance coverage through a fund financed by payroll and sin taxes. But there is one idea that may advance despite the economic woes, and it could mean better health care for thousands of Marylanders without great cost to the average taxpayer.

The inclusion of a government-run, public health care plan has become among the most contentious elements of the health reform packages being debated in Congress. Although some argue that a public plan would lead to government-controlled care, it would actually be one insurance option among many, the only difference being cost. Just like a private insurance plan, it would have benefits, co-pays, provider networks and monthly premiums. The option of a public plan shouldn't seem so controversial.

Friday, forecasters expect the Labor Department to report the economy added 155,000 jobs in December - substantially less than is needed to pull unemployment down to acceptable levels. The tax and spending package passed by the Senate and House provides little prospect of improvement, as the U.S. economy continues to suffer from insufficient demand and will continue growing at a subpar 2 percent a year. Factors contributing to weak demand and slow jobs creation are the huge trade deficits with China and other Asian exporters, as well as on oil. However, on the supply side, increased business regulations, rising health care costs and mandates imposed by Obamacare - and now higher taxes on small businesses - discourage investments that raise productivity and competitiveness and create jobs.

You might not have received your open enrollment package yet, but you probably know what to expect: Higher premiums. More out-of-pocket costs. Enticements to participate in wellness programs. This may be the last predictable open-enrollment season. Next fall, open enrollment will incorporate the changes from the Affordable Care Act, which takes full effect in 2014. "We will see a lot of change for 2014," said Melissa Jimeno, a principal in the Baltimore office of benefits consultant Mercer.

The Anne Arundel firefighters union filed suit yesterday in Circuit Court to block the county from implementing its new health care plan, saying the cost to its members is still unknown.The Anne Arundel County Professional Firefighters Association, Local 1563, is asking for a court order to prevent the county from issuing notices of the plan -- scheduled for Sunday -- that will require many employees to abandon their current health care plans.A hearing on the request is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. today before Judge Warren B. Duckett Jr.The firefighters union, which represents 570 career firefighters, says the delay is necessary to give an arbitrator time to resolve two grievances about health care filed by county employees.

WASHINGTON -- For Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the problems of the U.S. health care system have been a political danger zone since she unsuccessfully tackled the issue as first lady in the early 1990s. Health insurers and conservatives vilified Clinton for her efforts then, and Congress reacted coolly to her presentation of a universal health care plan as a fait accompli after months of secret meetings. Yesterday, as a candidate for president, the New York Democrat returned to the complicated and contentious topic, acknowledging mistakes and promising that she had learned from them.

City officials and two labor unions reached a tentative agreement yesterday that would give 2 percent raises to about half the city's workers while also charging them more for health benefits. The membership of the city's two largest unions - the City Union of Baltimore and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 44 - has to approve the agreement. But after a months-long impasse, participants said they were hopeful that they'd made a breakthrough. "We've been working very hard with AFSCME and CUB, and negotiating in good faith with them in a very, very tough budget year," Mayor Martin O'Malley said.

Thank you for The Sun's insightful article "Health plan costs jump 11%" (Sept. 10), which discusses the struggle small businesses face in light of continued increases in the cost of health care. Small business drives the economy, both nationally and in Maryland. Consider statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau for 2002: Maryland's small businesses constitute 97 percent of all employers in the state and employ 52 percent of Maryland's workforce. They employ more than 1 million workers and generate an annual Maryland payroll of more than $30 billion.