Buying insurance for something consumers can afford to pay out of pocket is always an expensive proposition. Think about it: which would cost more, an insurance company processing and paying a claim you have the money for in your pocket, or you reaching in your pocket and paying for it yourself?
So it was good to hear from the Mercer consulting firm that 19% of companies surveyed will begin in 2009 to offer consumer-directed health plans that encourage employees to watch health costs by letting them pocket savings.
Interesting that the Lexington Herald Leader didn't mention this key fact until the thirteenth paragraph of a fourteen paragraph story that started with the headline "Study: Workers to pay more for health care."
I'm surprised the AP story didn't end with some nonsense about 50 million Americans dying in the street for lack of health insurance.
