Patient Rights Get More SupportFrom Small Firms

Washington

Small employers, those with fewer than 200 employees, are more likely than large employers to support a patients right to independent review of a health plans medical decision and the right to sue the plan, a new survey says.

The survey by the Menlo Park, Calif.-based Kaiser Family Foundation found that 86 percent of smaller employers support independent review, compared to 78 percent of large employers.

Similarly, 67 percent of smaller employers support the right to sue a health plan, compared to just 28 percent of large employers.

However, these numbers are based on the cost of health insurance remaining constant. When told that the cost of health insurance might increase as a result of these changes, support from smaller employers drops significantly.

For example, if the right to an independent review increases the cost of health insurance by $1 per month, support for independent review drops to 72 percent among small employers and 60 percent among large employers.

Similarly, if the right to sue adds $5 per month to the cost of insurance, support for the right to sue drops to 50 percent among small employers and just 13 percent among large employers.

If the right to sue adds $30 per month to health insurance premiums, support among small employers drops to 26 percent, and just five percent among large employers.

In a separate survey, the Kaiser Family Foundation also asked very small employers, those with between three and 24 employees, what they would do if faced with a $20 per month increase in health insurance premiums.

The survey found that 36 percent of the respondents say they would absorb the entire cost.

Some 40 percent say they would pass some of the cost on to their employees, while 12 percent says they would pass on the entire cost.

Another four percent say they would drop health insurance coverage entirely, while two percent say they would switch to a plan with lower premiums.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, September 3, 2001. Copyright 2001 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.

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Patient Rights Get More Support From Small Firms

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