A recent Kaiser Health News article http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org * noted “….Employers are inquiring about it and brokers and consultants are advocating for it.”
“Health spending is driven largely by patients with chronic illness such as diabetes or who undergo expensive procedures such as organ transplants. Since most big corporations are self-insured, shifting even one high-cost member out of the company plan could save the employer hundreds of thousands of dollars a year — while increasing the cost of claims absorbed by the marketplace policy by a similar amount.”
“And the health law might not prohibit it, opening a door to potential erosion of employer-based coverage.”
“Here’s how it might work. The employer shrinks the hospital and doctor network to make the company plan unattractive to those with chronic illness. Or, the employer raises co-payments for drugs needed by the chronically ill, also rendering the plan unattractive and perhaps nudging high-cost workers to examine other options.”
* to read the full KHN article “Employers Eye Moving Sickest Workers To Insurance Exchanges” by Jay Hancock highlight and click on open hyperlink http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2014/May/07/shifting-employees-to-exchanges.aspx?utm_campaign=KFF%3A+The+Latest&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=12731363&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8dkIGm0ZUL0cSJW41uvA2O8YLD2H2l8tMw0arUV_ZWJRIt30GbVvy0gIAlF5wi9m0N5N72KFgO5wen8WeZ2svvRx2-2VsYfoQMul8TVWmmKizEgHc&_hsmi=12731363