Increase everyone’s deductable to $2000. Then, fund a health savings account of $2000 for each employee. You will end up avoiding the 18% increase and may even save money overall.
The deductible is $2000 per employee now, although they have discounts on doctor visits and prescriptions.
When we started coverage 15 years ago, after Hillary scared the heck out of all the insurers, the deductible was just $100 in an HMO. That’s the problem. Everybody was going to the doctor for a hangnail or a zit. Costs to our insurer skyrocketed.
Someone needs to blame Hillary for the rising costs, because employees began to think healthcare was free and took advantage of it all the time. The doctors/hospitals were charging out the wazoo, too.
A higher deductible is probably a good idea, if it means a lower premium. Part of the problem is all the “ask your doctor about” advertising. Cheez, it’s like the kiddie commercials where they exhort the children to nag their parents for some kind of sugar coated cereal.