50th Anniversary HR Magazine: 10 Changes That Rocked HR

There are many elements affecting increases in health care costs. The proportion of old people in the US population increases and aging population can raise health care expenditures. Because, compared to younger people, older people use more health care services as they are more likely to have non-communicable diseases. Non-communicable

The Affordable Care Act is considered to be a landmark legislation that sought to bring changes to overhaul the health care system within the United States. While the ACA has brought necessary improvements and changes to how health care is handled, it has also directly affected many stakeholders within the health care industry. The major stakeholders of health care are considered to affect each and every aspect of the massive industry, and can be influential. This paper will be specifically addressing the effects of the ACA on the employer stakeholder group. It will talk about the new responsibilities and taxes employers must face, how the ACA is currently affecting employers at the moment and into the future, how the employees and their dependents will be affected by these changes, and finally what strategies employers can take to mitigate

Rising health insurance premiums have made healthcare unaffordable in the United States. Health insurance premiums in this country have undergone a steady rise over the past few years while incomes have remained the same. More than 50% of individuals with low incomes holding private insurance in the United States are unable to afford their healthcare costs (Collins, Gunja, Doty & Buetel, 2015). In addition, costs related to healthcare are equally unaffordable to 25% of working-age individuals who hold private health insurance policies (Collins et al., 2015). According to the Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research and Educational Trust (Kaiser/HRET) survey on employer health benefits, employer-sponsored health insurance plans have also had moderate rises in premiums in 2013 for both individuals and family coverage (Claxton et al., 2013). While

In 1954, Congress passed legislation allowing employers to provide health insurance benefits to employees on a tax-free basis (Sih and Singh 99). This legal provision marked the beginning of the rapidly expanding health care costs still apparent today due to the major incentives provided by the government to obtain employer-based health coverage. The overwhelming popularity of employer-based health insurance has led to a serious market inefficiency resulting from the system of third-party payment. As individuals rely on their insurance companies to pay for their medical expenses, this provides

By the time the 1990’s rolled around, the cost of any kind of health care had a growth

A series of events has recently occurred to cause the passage of PPACA. Economics are explicitly linked to health care. In the United States, health care coverage is provided primarily through an employer-based system. This system began in the depression era when pay was federally frozen. Companies, in an attempt to lure scarce workers, used benefits packages including health care as bait. Described as a “uniquely American” “private social security” health care system, the employer-sponsored system is the “cornerstone” of United States health care system (Blumenthal, 2006). This system has left many un- or under-insured. Blumenthal states (2006), “The United States’ dependence on employer-sponsored insurance means that the protection of its citizens against the costs of illness depends directly on the ability of private businesses to manage and absorb health care expenses that have defied all efforts to contain them.” Recently, economic downturn and the need to reduce expenses to better compete on the global market has caused many companies to both reduce their insurance benefits package and their work force causing many to lose their health care coverage. The employer-based system merged with the economic downturn, unaffordable health care costs for businesses, and

Health care costs have been rising for several years. Expenditures in the United States on health care surpassed $2.3 trillion in 2008, more than three times the

On the same level from a patient’s perspective, providers are even challenged with increased costs. Even though insurance is becoming more affordable the money, unfortunately has to be recovered utilizing other

Increases in health care spending are not necessarily due to Americans visiting hospitals or physicians more frequently than residents in other countries. Higher health care prices in the United States can be attributed to the increased use of medical technology compared to other countries, the privatization of the healthcare industry, as well as a higher use and cost of pharmaceuticals

Advances in technology have led to increased health care cost. An MRI machine can be so advanced today that it can costs around $8,000 just to have an MRI. Although it is wonderful that we are making so many advances in medical technology, it comes with a price. Providers are also forced to increase their rates due to the rising of costs of well, everything. This means that Medicare/Medicaid must now pay providers more per visit. These costs continue to increase year after year. With the Affordable Care Act, providers had to increase cost by rather large amounts.

Many employees must designate a health plan through their employer. These days, as HMOs (health maintenance organizations) and managed care plans continue to proliferate, that means a choice between bad and worse. As employees line up in the lunch-room for a process called open enrollment, they may be surprised to learn that managed care rates have gone up — again. The mirage that managed care is cheaper care is finally fading. And, for the first time in years, employees may also have the promise of free choice in medicine in the form of a new method of financing health care. Consumers are already aware of horror stories involving HMOs, but cheap rates persuaded many that managed care is less expensive. Recent

There is no denying the fact that the cost of health care in the United States has been on a constant rise than the wage of the employees that pay to have access to better healthcare. There is the general fear among these employees that if the rising cost of the health care is not brought under control, there will come a time, and some analyst think, the time is already here, when those employees will not be able to afford health care for themselves and their families. This fear of the unknown is particularly evident among those closer to retirement. Employers of labor have for quite sometimes now, been shifting the burden of the high cost of affordable health care to their employees, and that has significantly reduced employee standard of

During the course of the Twentieth Century there was a significant evolution of the function of HR.

Even though the Civil Rights was so long ago, some still question whether our world has overcome the problems faced back then. The U.S. has changed significantly since the Civil Rights in both positive and negative ways, but the majority has clearly been positive. Obviously, there are still improvements we need to make as a society to banish all racism. However, if we work together as a whole, we will definitely be able to achieve these goals.

All United States employers are facing the same challenges to one degree or another, which led to the passage of national health