According to this recent article from Yahoo Finance, businesses, including funeral homes, may find their employee health care costs rising by up to 7% in 2024.  And, that is on top of increases of 5.5% in 2022 and 6% this year.

 

According to the article, “. . .hospitals and providers will often be pushed to seek significant rate increases from payers. . .”.  That is because of the inflationary pressures, caused somewhat by worker shortages that will be felt throughout the broader health care systems.

 

If health care providers seek increases in re-imbursements from the health insurer companies because of this, the money to pay those increases will have to come from the premiums the health insurers charge the insured.  That means that individual health care policies and those group policies, that many funeral homes operate under to insure their workers,  will go up in cost to cover those higher re-imbursements.

 

According to Larry Leavitt, of the Kaiser Family Foundation, “There are cost pressures bubbling up throughout the health care system, and those higher costs will translate directly to higher premiums for employers and individuals. . . . While employers have historically tried to shift premium increases onto workers, that may be difficult in the current labor market with unemployment so low.”

 

Funeral Director Daily take:  I always struggled with finding the best health care options for our group of employees.  We all had the same policies but our individual circumstances — from owners to funeral directors to clerical workers — all were different.  So, what was best for one employee as far as coverage, deductibles, and the like, was not always the best for another employee.

 

I always tried to do the best I could and for many years our funeral home covered the “total cost of premiums” for “family coverage” of all employees.  It was a great benefit for all team members as well as the owners who had the same coverages.  And, I always felt if we were paying 100% of the premiums nobody should quibble about the coverages provided.

 

However, health insurance for employees has become an incredible cost of doing business.   The inability to cover at 100% of the premiums has made it more discerning than ever to look for a policy that has something for all employees benefit since they now pay a portion of the premium.

 

I suggest that you start looking around as soon as possible for your company.  If I remember correctly, usually by about August 1st health insurers had their plans for the following year available and priced out.  Getting a quick start on finding what may be the best fit for your business can’t hurt.

 

More news from the world of Death Care:

• Family run Swindon funeral service marks 100th anniversary.  Yahoo
• Stumpf completes licensing to become funeral director.  The Herald (PA)
• 7 alternatives to burial or cremation.  The Star
• New crematory proposed at west edge of Champaign.  The News-Gazette (IL)

 

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