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
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    bowl of vegetable salad
    Raw Foods: benefits and harms
    November 9, 2021
    pros and cons of the keto diet
    Read This Before You Follow the Keto Diet
    May 18, 2022
    spinal cord injuries
    4 Potential Causes of Spinal Cord Injuries (and How to Seek Compensation)
    May 25, 2022
    Latest News
    7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
    August 20, 2025
    Hospital Pest Control and the Fight Against Superbugs
    August 20, 2025
    Hygiene Beyond The Clinic: Attention To Overlooked Non-Clinical Spaces
    August 13, 2025
    5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
    August 3, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    The Hidden Epidemic of Nursing Home Abuse
    February 16, 2021
    Smiles Make the World Go Around
    August 25, 2017
    Those Pesky Tension Headaches
    September 12, 2017
    Latest News
    How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
    August 20, 2025
    How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
    August 20, 2025
    How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
    August 20, 2025
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
  • 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

information addiction
The Information Junkies in Your Support Group
Video:ACO: Summary and Final Analysis of Final Rule
Breast Density Notification Bill on its Way to State Assembly
12 Commonly Asked Questions About Coronavirus
You Probably Thought the Public Option Was Dead

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

engineer fitting prosthetic arm
How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
Health care
August 20, 2025
a woman explaining the document
How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
Public Health
August 20, 2025
physiotherapist at work
How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
Health care
August 20, 2025
Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs
7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
Health News
August 20, 2025

You Might also Like

About Time: Health Care Firms Send Jobs Overseas

July 27, 2012

Maybe We Don’t Need to Train So Many Doctors

July 13, 2011
Image
BusinesseHealth

Healthcare Search Engine Optimization

May 12, 2013

Case Study: Developing a National Audience for a Urologist

December 3, 2011
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?