Mercury Marine drama demonstrates need for health care reform

"Great for Wisconsin" declares Owen Robinson as Mercury Marine announces it's staying (at least for now) in Fond Du Lac.

It's a bit more complicated than that, of course, given that MM is staying in Fond Du Lac because it was able to wring considerable concessions out of its work force (and squeezed its salaried employees)  paying them less, providing them less coverage and making their retirements less secure. The events at MM have reduced the standard of living for its employees and will leave the community a little  less prosperous than it was before.

Which brings us to health care. Scaling back health insurance coverage at MM is part of a bigger trend, one that will likely only accelerate as the economy (apparently) moves from recession to a period of tenuous growth and high unemployment. From the Wall Street Journal:

As the Obama administration wrestles with broader questions of health-care overhaul, tough economic times are forcing more businesses tojso grapple with stressful questions about discontinuing coverage. Health-insurance premiums for single workers rose 74% for small businesses from 2001 to 2008, the latest year data are available, according to nonprofit research group Kaiser Family Foundation.

About 10% of small businesses are considering eliminating coverage over the next year, up from 3% in 2005, according to a recent survey by National Small Business Association.

That follows earlier declines in coverage, with just 38% of small businesses providing health insurance last year compared to 61% in 1993, according to the trade group. In 2007, 41% offered coverage. A Hewitt Associates survey found that 19% of all companies plan to stop providing health-care benefits in the next three to five years.

Assurant Health, a national health-insurance provider, has recently seen more small businesses canceling coverage. Scott Krienke, senior vice president of product lines, says premiums typically increase 8% to 16% yearly for small businesses, with the smallest firms particularly at risk for large rate increases.

Employee based health insurance is going to become more rare, more expensive and more stingy in its scope. "But if employers go too far,they risk losing employees!" say free marketeers,  a laughable notion given the slackness of the job market (tough to leave your job for better coverage, if you know, no one's hiring) and that this environment is going to encourage employers to shift costs (if everyone's cutting, where do you go for something better).

And, as we saw at MM, people will have to take it and say they're lucky to have a job at all. 

We need a better system. Now.