Employers have been one of the groups hit hardest by the continuing increase in healthcare spending, but it still may be surprising that a majority of large companies are in favor of increased government intervention in healthcare.
A recent survey from the National Business Group on Health found that among large employers, 55 percent were in favor of expanding Medicare. But that number itself was split between how much the program should be expanded.
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An effort to expand Medicare to individuals between the ages of 60 and 64 and those 50 and above both had the support of 23 percent of survey respondents. That was followed by only 9 percent of companies who thought that Medicare should be expanded to the ages of 55 to 64.
The survey collected responses from a total of 147 large employers which span industry sectors and offer coverage more than 15.6 million employees and their dependents.
When it comes to a policy proposal like Medicare-for-all, employers still have “significant reservations,” according to the survey.
While 72 percent of respondents agreed that a Medicare-for-all public option system would reduce the number of uninsured in the country, a majority of companies also said it would increase overall healthcare costs, employee healthcare costs and tax rates.
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A majority of respondents also said they believed a Medicare-for-all system would decrease healthcare delivery innovation and quality.
Where employers did see a role in the expansion of government was in the financing of high-cost drug therapies, 76 percent said they supported government stepping in and doing all-payer negotiation for drugs over a certain threshold and paying the difference out of a national fund.
On the other hand, only 25 percent of respondents through the government should shift patients with certain high-cost conditions to Medicare.
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