Employees revolt against status quo health care financing in the spirit of “No taxation without representation……….”
By Bill Rusteberg
According to the 2025 Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) survey the average annual cost for employee only group health insurance coverage is between $7,000 and $8,800. Benevolent and caring employers pay the premiums by reducing employees pay by the same amount. Somehow that message gets lost at Open Enrollment.
Unfortunately, every year insurance costs keep going up and employees pay more by being paid less but don’t know it. Benevolent plan sponsors make sure of it.
ABC Fence Company (don’t bother looking it up because it doesn’t exist), transitioned into an employee-owned company and they decided to do something different with health care financing.
“Screw employer paid insurance. It never existed in the first place!” said Joe Sixpack during Open Enrollment. “Let’s give ourselves back our money. We can buy our own insurance. Or we can use it for something else like beer and fajitas or that Bass boat my wife says we can’t afford!”
“Splendid idea!” roared the audience, “Let’s go fishing!”
So they did. And here’s how they did it:
- Each employee was gifted back $7,500 that was previously sent off to Blue Cross by way of reduced wages.
- Employees enroll on a health plan that best fits their individual needs on the open market. All pre-existing conditions are covered.
- Example: Joe Sixpack, age 35, who is young and healthy, picks a Bronze United HealthCare policy for $3,600 per year. His wife makes him invest his $3,900 savings in his 401k. Life is good and the Bass boat can wait.
- Sam Ivebeenhereforever is no spring chicken so he buys a gold plated, $0 deductible plan from Blue Cross and pays $8,500 a year in premium because he wants to. No one is making him do it. He doesn’t mind paying the extra $1,000 because he knows he’s gonna screw the insurance company big time with his upcoming heart transplant. His life continues and life is good.
“What are we going to call our plan? asks Mary in HR. “Let’s call it ICHRA” says Tommy. “No one will know what it is and that’s a good thing because nobody seems to know what it is anyway!”
