RAND and USC health researchers: Even big self-insured companies can’t rein in health costs

From the source

This open enrollment season, employers and workers alike are again confronting high cost increases for health coverage, with family premiums now averaging over $28,000 a year. Some small companies report spending more on health insurance than they make in profit. For the past decade, the federal government’s response to rising employer costs has been to improve price transparency—the theory being that so long as companies know the price of things, they can shop around or negotiate their way to lower costs. But disclosure is not enough, we were told during interviews with employers, benefits consultants, claims administrators, and legal and policy experts. Few outside the very largest employers can turn price information into leverage. This is true even when it is the employer who directly foots the medical bills. Companies with such “self-insured” plans cover two-thirds of the 165 million Americans who get insurance through their job. They should have the clearest line of sight into…

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