Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | FEBRUARY 6, 2022 17 that can be used to pay for health and wellness expenses such as gym memberships, but the concept hasn't yet been widely adopted. Child-care support is also trending up, she said. Rising healthcare costs Bill Lee, president and CEO of The Lee Co., said he's been pitching the idea of fully covering employee health insurance premiums for about a decade. The pandemic's influence, particu- larly on employees, weighed heavily on the decision to move forward with the added benefit, he said. "So many people talked to us about how valuable our healthcare system was to them, not just in terms of the physical side of getting health care, but the mental side of knowing that they were a member of a really good plan that had their back, and that they were going to be able to get care when they needed it," Lee said. "It just sort of pushed us over the edge to go ahead and do it." The Lee Co.'s roughly 1,100 employees — spread across three sites in Westbrook and Essex — along with their spouses and families are covered by the new policy. Their benefits remain the same, but they are still responsible for deduct- ibles and copays. Lee declined to disclose how much the expanded benefit will cost his business, but he hopes it can serve as a recruitment tool. Lee Co. — which also offers a prof- it-sharing plan, scholarship fund, tuition reimbursement and advanced manufacturing training, among other perks — plans to hire 30 to 40 addi- tional staffers in the next eight to 10 months, he said. In recent years, as health insur- ance costs have steadily increased, companies have been more likely to shift those higher expenses onto employees than do the opposite, said CBIA's Montgomery. CBIA, in an annual survey, used to ask board members whether or not they fully pay employee insurance premiums. Two or three decades ago, Montgomery said, about 15% of employers said they did, but that number gradually dropped into the single digits to around 5% or less. Dowd, the employment lawyer, said spiraling health insurance costs are one of the major issues facing employers. "And the reaction thus far for most employers has been to tell employees 'we're going to share more of these costs with you so that you are a partner with us in having these health insurance benefits provided to you,'" he said. And costs are generally higher for a small business compared to a larger company that has more bargaining and purchasing power when shop- ping for health insurance plans. "One big problem with a small company," Dowd said, "is that you could have one person who has an expensive illness and that can really drive up your rates from year to year, as opposed to a larger company, where one person doesn't have that kind of impact." Given the rising costs and overall economic uncertainty, Montgomery said he's not sure eliminating medical insurance premiums will be a trend. Companies making the decision have to be committed to it, he emphasized. "If I say I'm going to cover an entire premium, that's something you prob- ably want to commit to for some time — you don't want to be in a situation where you're giving it one year and taking it back," Montgomery said. "To make that sort of commitment, you have to be really comfortable as far as your economic outlook, and probably not many companies are comfortable enough with their status at this juncture." Instead of passing on more direct costs to employees, Bucello said, many companies are offering lower- cost health insurance plans, but they often neglect certain coverages and have high deductibles. "It's definitely a balancing act and with the war for talent, employees are looking to their employers to help them manage this," Bucello said. "When employees are talking about why they leave or are considering leaving an employer, right behind pay and workload is insufficient healthcare benefits." Spsed by Presented by HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM / HBJ - EVENTS Get Yr Tickets Today! Ce and Celebrate with Us at the Name That Tune Editi of MARCH 2 • AQUA TURF CLUB • 5-8 PM

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