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Open up and say ouch! (Health Insurance).

Article Excerpt
Like most small CPA firms, Rowbotham and Co. isn't holding its breath for health insurance rates to drop. While making a conscious effort to offer a good, low-cost health plan, the San Francisco-based firm doesn't know how much longer it can hold off the rising insurance rates.

"If rates continue to increase, we probably will have to start looking at passing on costs to the employee," says Eileen Thomas, Rowbotham's director of administration. "Just as the insurance companies are looking to pass more costs back to us."

Thomas' lament is a common one. With the cost of health insurance spiraling, many employers are wondering which is worse: the cost of insurance or the ailments themselves.

Double-digit rate increases, a trend that has worsened in the last several years, could render health benefits prohibitively costly going forward.

As a result, many businesses are exploring ways to offset the cost--even if it means passing those costs onto their employees.

MORE COST SHARING

According to a recent survey of 434 employers by Watson Wyatt Worldwide and the Washington Business Group on Health, a whopping 83 percent indicate they would increase employee premium contributions, with an additional 80 percent planning to increase employee co-pays.

"Business just can't continue to absorb the health care cost increases," says Dave Romans, a senior consultant with Washington, D.C.-based Watson Wyatt. "How many businesses can you point to where sales are increasing 20 percent or profitability is increasing 20 percent a year? We definitely see more cost sharing being passed...