Once again as I travel on the road, (believe me I do a lot of traveling on the road), I think about the exorbitant costs of health care and the related cost of health plans to employers in this country. It is currently on a course that is unsustainable and unaffordable – there will be very uncomfortable short and long-term sacrifices coming soon for both employees and employers. I think about the financial burden that employees and their family members have – both out of their paycheck in terms of their premium contributions, as well as their ability to afford the cost of healthcare when they need it. With the rapid rise in deductibles and out-of-pocket exposures, and the ever-increasing request by providers to ask for their money up front, the affordability issue is very real.
I am reminded of the old Fable about the Little Dutch Boy who saves the Town by putting his finger in the hole in the dike – when the seas were rising and threatened to break the dam and destroy the Town. In the case of healthcare, health insurance, and health plans, there are so many holes in the dike already that there aren’t enough Little Dutch Boys with enough fingers – the dam is about to burst. One little finger in the dike isn’t going to save the “Healthcare Town.”
The analogy with the Little Dutch Boy story is that the solution recommended by most brokers and consultants is just put another finger in the dike while the seas (cost) continue to rise. Often the recommendation “finger” is to go “shop” for another insurance company for a better price. The problem is that there are more holes than there are fingers. An entire change needs to occur; a new paradigm; a new perspective; and a new plan and strategy that will make healthcare costs more affordable and sustainable – hence a new “dike.”.
As an employer, that is what is needed – a new “dike”. A new “dike” that will be able to sustain and actually divert the cost of healthcare. Not one that requires more fingers in it, but a new “dike” altogether. One that is constructed in a way that will utilize new materials, new technology, new engineering, and new methods to “protect the little Town.” If you’re willing to think outside the box and embrace new ideas and change, – it can be accomplished. It won’t be without a little effort, or something a little different, or additional education and communication, but it can be achieved. You simply cannot continue to do the same things you’ve done in the past and expect different results – the definition of insanity.
If you’re tired of the continuing rise in health care costs and the related rise in your health plan costs, and If you are ready to take a look at what a new “dike” might look like, and what type of engineering, materials, construction, labor, and services that are required, then let’s talk and I can help give you the blueprints. It’s not that difficult – you simply need to know how.
Frank Stichter, MHP [email protected] 970.349.7707