Briefs: Which employer will drop health benefits first?

Sounds like a game of health care chicken. While big employers say they are not ready to bail out of their role of acting as the national backbone of health insurance coverage, they are pushing for changes to ease health benefit costs - and that could change quickly if one large employer drops benefits.

By Times Staff
Published February 10, 2008

Which employer will drop health benefits first?

Sounds like a game of health care chicken. While big employers say they are not ready to bail out of their role of acting as the national backbone of health insurance coverage, they are pushing for changes to ease health benefit costs - and that could change quickly if one large employer drops benefits. So says an article published last week by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. If one big sponsor takes the first step and decides to drop benefits, others say they would likely follow. One major exception: Employment-based retiree health benefits have been in sharp decline, says the article, available online at www.ebri.org.

Most of us are thinking retirement

Eight in 10 working Americans say they've begun to prepare for retirement, starting on average at age 30. However, they do not anticipate being able to retire until the age of 64, six years above their ideal retirement age. The global retirement survey released last week by AXA Equitable Life Insurance Co. found major life events that triggered Americans to start saving for retirement, including milestone birthdays - turning 40 and 50 - and having children. Other reasons that prompted saving included marriage, and advice from friends and relatives. Still, more than half of American workers polled anticipate working during retirement. Of those surveyed, middle-income workers (53 percent) and female retirees (50 percent) feel their retirement income will be insufficient.

Recruiting is what worries companies

Unemployment may have inched up, but recruiting experienced professionals is still a top concern for many companies, says a nationwide survey. Twenty percent of chief financial officers polled by Robert Half Management Resources said finding skilled staff will be their greatest challenge over the next 12 months. That's up from 17 percent in a similar poll in 2003. Coming in second, with 16 percent, was meeting customer demands. The three top concerns of five years ago - government regulation, adequate sales or financing and competition - slipped.

[Last modified February 8, 2008, 20:38:25]