Health Insurance Costs Burden Small Companies
Small businesses continue to grapple with the costs of providing healthcare to their employees, but the challenge is becoming disastrous for many businesses that are just trying to stay afloat, according to George S. May International.
A new survey of 912 small to medium-sized business owners across the United States by management consulting firm George S. May International found that 46 percent of respondents don’t offer health insurance to their employees.
Of the 54 percent that do offer health insurance to their employees, the split between employer and employee paid premiums is as follows:
| Paid by employer: | ||
| • 100% | 13% of respondents | |
| • 90% | 10% of respondents | |
| • 80% | 20% of respondents | |
| • 70% | 18% of respondents | |
| • 60% | 17% of respondents | |
| • 50% | 22% of respondents |
“This survey speaks volumes to what we’re seeing with troubled clients everyday,” said Paul Rauseo, managing director of the George S. May International Company. “A recipe for disaster is looming among small businesses that are already not profitable, as they struggle with this very difficult challenge to try and provide for their own employees.”
“The most glaring number is the fact that 22 percent of those small businesses that offer health insurance only pay 50 percent, which is a clear sign of being in survival mode,” Rauseo said. “These are the same employees that are being driven harder and harder each day to keep the very business alive that simply does not have the means to provide 100 percent employer-paid health insurance; many cannot afford any employer participation, much less holiday bonuses or other benefits.”
