By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: One More Way ObamaCare May Lead to Single Payer
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Policy & Law > Health Reform > One More Way ObamaCare May Lead to Single Payer
BusinessHealth ReformPolicy & LawPublic Health

One More Way ObamaCare May Lead to Single Payer

DavidEWilliams
DavidEWilliams
Share
3 Min Read
employer insurance
SHARE

employer insuranceOne reason opponents of ObamaCare are so vehement is that they fear the Affordable Care Act may lead the United States to a single payer system. They’re not entirely wrong. (For more reasons they’re vehement check out my earlier post on the topic.)

employer insuranceOne reason opponents of ObamaCare are so vehement is that they fear the Affordable Care Act may lead the United States to a single payer system. They’re not entirely wrong. (For more reasons they’re vehement check out my earlier post on the topic.)

In Employers Eye Moving Sickest Workers To Insurance Exchanges, Kaiser Health News’ Jay Hancock describes how employers could potentially “dump” high-cost employees into the public exchanges. Here’s how it might work:

Self-insured employers pay their own claims rather than paying premiums to health plans to manage the risk. They use  health plans as third party administrators rather than insurers. If costs are kept under control they do well, but if costs rise the employer bears the brunt. Most insured employers have thousands of employees and the majority that are reasonably healthy counterbalance the few with very high expenses. But since some chronic illnesses (hemophilia is one example from the article) can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per patient per year, it could still be advantageous to avoid having those few patients on the rolls.

More Read

Medical Malpractice Cases
Can Medical Error Victims Sue the Responsible Parties For Medical Malpractice?
Second Opinions: How Should You Choose?
Chicago: The Future Health Tech Hub of the US?
Understanding the Legal Aspects of Wrongful Death in Healthcare
Automation in Digital Credentialing

Under the Affordable Care Act it may be possible for employers to encourage such patients to migrate to a public exchange. For example, an employer could raise cost sharing on expensive drugs, making them unaffordable. At the same time it could pay for an individual employee’s platinum level policy on the exchange for a few thousand dollars. The company would pay less and the employee would pay less. The high costs for the employee would be spread more broadly over the exchange population or picked up by the federal government.

I don’t think it’s such a bad thing, because I don’t think we should make it difficult for individuals with high health costs to get jobs or to afford coverage.

The article points out that it’s surprising the ACA allows this type of behavior, considering that employers are not allowed to push older employees into Medicare and that employers have had to repay claims for employees who were pushed into high risk pools.

Maybe the ACA should be amended to discourage pushing high cost employees into the exchanges, but I don’t see it happening. Opponents of the law are still not willing to make improvements to it, since that would mean accepting the ACA’s permanence. And many supporters of the law may be happy or at least –like me– ambivalent about the existing provision.

(photo credit: id-iom via photopin cc)

Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

a woman walking on the hallway
6 Easy Healthcare Ways to Sit Less and Move More Every Day
Health
September 9, 2025
Clinical Expertise
Healthcare at a Crossroads: Why Leadership Matters More Than Ever
Global Healthcare
September 9, 2025
travel nurse in north carolina
Balancing Speed and Scope: Choosing the Nursing Degree That Fits Your Goals
Nursing
September 1, 2025
intimacy
How to Keep Intimacy Comfortable as You Age
Relationship and Lifestyle Senior Care
September 1, 2025

You Might also Like

Pharma R & D Spending is Down

July 2, 2011
Medical EthicsNews

Colt McCoy’s Concussion Fumbled by Team Physicians

December 18, 2011

What Food Stamps Can Teach Us about Health Care

April 12, 2012

Physicians Agonize About Salary Negotiations

October 31, 2014
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?