I found this article and thought it should be passed along, health insurance is a big issue, we all need it but we all can’t afford it on our own, maybe instead of our employers footing the bill, we could do a share and share with them. Lighten the burden both ways and maybe an employer like Starbucks would not have to cut back so much.
Part of the article is below and the link to the full article is further down the page.
Today, Starbucks is hurting. Caught in this economic downturn, it has been forced to cut thousands of jobs. About 600 Starbucks stores in this country will be closed over the coming year, as well as most of those in Australia. This week, the company reported its first-ever quarterly loss, a net loss of $6.7 million. The company attributes its problems to the economy, increasing competition from fast-food companies such as McDonalds (not known for its health care coverage), and perhaps to its rapid expansion.
All of this is predictable. U. S. employers need a healthy work force, but can no longer afford to provide comprehensive employer-sponsored coverage (ESI). The average cost of ESI is now over $15,000 a year for a family of four, with the employer paying for about 60 percent of that and the employee picking up the rest. All of these numbers keep going up each year by three or four times the cost of living and median wages. As a result, more employers are cutting back on coverage (if provided at all), passing along more costs to their employees, and eliminating retiree coverage altogether (eg., General Motors). It is an open question how much longer employers with a social conscience, such as Starbucks and Costco, can continue to offer coverage.
Read the full article here–>
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