Mitigate Partners in STAT News

April 14th article in STAT News gives insightful information about the current economy's effects on the health insurance industry and small businesses. Reporter Bob Herman, formerly at Axios, does a masterful job of curating voices from the front lines of small businesses, health insurance brokerages, and employee benefit advisors. From title to last sentence, it's worth the read.

Headline: "Completely Unsustainable"

Sub-headline: Small Employers Brace for Giant Health Insurance Price Hikes

Published: April 14, 2022 Journalist Bob Herman, STAT

Among the important voices in this story is that of Carl Schuessler, Jr. - founder of Mitigate Partners - a nationwide network of employee benefits advisors transforming the health insurance industry and specializing in employer-built health insurance plans vs. the traditional insurance-carrier built plans. The reporter's article tells the story of how small companies around the country are preparing to weather double-digit hikes to their health insurance premiums next year.

Schuessler, an Omni Public client and industry expert, is among the select individuals interviewed for this article. After a series of interviews with health insurance brokers, consultants and benefits advisors, Herman reports that smaller employers are bracing themselves for 10% - 15% increases in their health care premiums for 2023. "The expected 2023 increases are quite a jump from the normal annual increase," said Herman. "Since 2015, increases for family coverage in small employers hovered around 5% - 8% annually, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation... In some cases, the financial plan pain could be even more severe. Carl Schuessler Jr., a health benefits adviser with Mitigate Partners, has a client in Georgia with fewer than 25 workers. The insurer raised the company's premiums by 50% this past February. Another employers in Florida with fewer than 60 workers and dependents ate a 47% increase, effective April 1." Further down in the article, Herman writes: "People in the hospital and insurance industry expect patient volumes will be closer to pre- pandemic norms this year. That indicates insurers will bump up prices again to offset the uncertainty of Covid and people getting more care. But benefits experts also say Covid has provided cover for big insurers to raise premiums, considering their profits exceed what they earned before the pandemic. “They’re all jacking it up and say, ‘Covid,’ yet when you look at their financials, the insurance companies made more money than they’ve ever made in their history during Covid,” Schuessler said. “It’s just an excuse to pass it off.”

Full access to the STAT News article is subscription based, at this point. Here's the link: https://www.statnews.com/2022/04/14/small-employers-brace-health-insurance-price-hikes/