Who Controls Your HEALTHCARE?...Get ready for BIG Changes!

Here's a rapidly-growing TREND...More and more Employers are now moving their "human resources" off of their Healthcare plans and offering them "cash" to purchase their own plans.  Hmmm...It may sound OK on the surface, but no matter how you spin it, this puts people in a helpless position if costs go up (which they WILL).  Trust the Company? ...Dennis

Walgreens Boots 120,000 Employees Off Healthcare, Tells Them to Buy Their Own Plans

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Walgreen Co is moving 120,000 employees to a private health insurance exchange from coverage provided directly from carriers, the company will announce Friday.

The pharmacy chain will join 17 other large employers on the Aon Hewitt Corporate Health Exchange as part of a growing movement to offer employees cash to purchase their own plans on such exchanges.

The end-cost to employees depends on the plan chosen, but they typically get more options than under traditional arrangements. Private exchanges mimic the coverage mandated as part of the Affordable Care Act. Enrollment in the public exchanges starts October 1.

"What happens to employer contributions over time? Will they put in as much as they put in the past? These are unanswered questions but potential negatives," says Paul Fronstin, a senior research associate with the Employee Benefit Research Institute. The benefit to Walgreen and other employers is unknown at this point, as their cost-savings are not clear.

Of the 180,000 Walgreen employees eligible for healthcare insurance, 120,000 opted for coverage for themselves and 40,000 family members. Another 60,000 employees, many of them working part-time, were not eligible for health insurance.

Aon Hewitt says other participants in its program include retailer Sears Holding Corp and Darden Restaurants Inc. These new additions raise enrollment to 330,000 from 100,000 last year, and Aon Hewitt estimates enrollment will jump to 600,000 next year, a fivefold increase from 2012.

By 2017, nearly 20 percent of employees nationwide could get their health insurance through a private exchange, according to Accenture Research. A recent report by the National Business Group on Health said that 30 percent of large employers are considering moving active employees to exchanges by 2015.

FULL STORY:

Also see report in Bloomberg: "There's no guarantee that contributions will rise if premiums do."