title: Between a rock and a hard place: understanding the employer mind-set.
abstract: Large and mid-size employers are "between a rock and hard place" when it comes to health benefits: They are both unable to manage their health care costs effectively or simply get out of offering these benefits entirely. Although there is considerable diversity in how employers approach health care, several goals underlie most of their decisions. It is unlikely that the current round of employer-based health initiatives will succeed at managing rising costs. As a result, employers are likely to become more interested than at any time in the past decade in exiting their roles as providers of health benefits.
authors.affiliation: Global Health Care, General Electric Company in Fairfield, Connecticut, USA. robert.galvin@ge.com
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Galvin
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Delbanco
mesh_terms: D003363:Cost Control / Q000379:methods*; D017047:Cost Sharing; D019468:Disease Management; D017049:Employer Health Costs / Q000639:trends*; D006264:Health Benefit Plans, Employee / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends*; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D020402:Medical Savings Accounts; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D012179:Retirement / Q000191:economics; D014481:United States