We-Have-to-Pass-It-to-Find-Out-What’s-In-It Fact of the Day
As workers open their W-2 forms this month, many will see a new box with information on the total cost of employer-sponsored health insurance coverage. To some, it will be a surprise, perhaps even a shock…
The disclosures, required by the 2010 health care law, are meant to make workers more cost-conscious. Health benefits are still tax-free.
Full New York Times story on the new disclosure requirement.
How would one figure out how much the employer covers for health coverage if they are in group plans. I do agree, perhaps this measure will make us more cost conscious, this could be a good thing.
In some cases, transparency leads to outrage. I hope this is one of them. Healthcare is entirely too expensive. I hope people compare their 2012 and 2013 W-2 to their 2014 W-2 and realize how much the cost of their healthcare will rise when the ACA is fully implemented.
On the flip side, maybe people will quit asking for raises when they realize how much their employer pitches in.
My guess is that people will actually enjoy seeing how large the cost of their health benefits are rather than wonder what they can do to hold them down. The employee health plan is one of those perks where you have to spend money to receive the benefit. The more times I see my doctor, the bigger my health bonus this year.
This will be positive as transparency is always a positive thing. Now, what type of reactions it will spur is a different question. Regardless, if it makes people think more of the actual health expenditures related to their health plans, perhaps people will become more proactively engaged in the conversation of health care reform.
Evan, I completely agree with you. I could expect many “average joes” to open these W-2s and suddenly be struck with the actual weight of healthcare in America. Far too often, Americans take a “not my problem” viewpoint to American macroeconomic issues. If they see just how expensive health insurance is – when they haven’t even been to the doctor that year – that perspective will change how these people see the healthcare crisis.