I work for (and am a part owner) of a law firm that is a classic small business. We have about 30 lawyers and 20 support staff of various kinds. We provide health insurance to all of our employees, and continue to this day to provide family coverage to all at no additional charge. This is no small benefit, as several of our employees are single mothers. We provide health insurance through Carefirst, the local Blue Cross/Blue Shield affiliate. Premiums increase every year, of course, but this year, Carefirst is presenting us with a 34% increase -- for employees with family coverage this will increase our costs by nearly $3 an hour. Our premiums for employees with families will be approaching the $1,600 a month range, more than $10 an hour, and exceeding the recently increased minimum wage rate by $3.00.
We will bite the bullet and continue to provide this benefit because of our strong commitment to doing the right thing (and our ability to do so). But how many businesses faced with this option will have to cut or eliminate health insurance? And what if, as is the case with many of the union employers with whom I deal, your competition is providing zero health insurance while you are paying anywhere from $4 to $10 an hour for your employees' health care? The notion that there is no need for change is simply absurd. Current insurance inflation is unsustainable and ever more people are going to be added to the ranks of the uninsured or the underinsured. Our businesses will be less competitive in the international arena. Insured employees will see take home pay stagnate as more and more of the money that employers allocate to labor costs will have to be used to pay for health insurance.
The status quo is simply not sustainable. To claim otherwise is delusional.
