Benefits February 4, 2008

White House Proposes W-2 Health Care Cost Report

February 4, 2008 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - In an effort to better educate workers on the costs of their workplace health insurance coverage, the Bush Administration has proposed that employers be required to report the cost to employees on annual W-2 wage and income statements.
Reported by

Business Insurance reported that the proposal is part of the Administration’s 2009 budget proposal released Monday. With employees not having the figure, there may be “inefficient choices of health coverage, including overconsumption of health coverages by employees,” the administration said, according to Business Insurance.

The proposal excludes contribution to health savings accounts and allows employers to pull together in one number the costs of health care-related plans in which employees are enrolled, such as medical, dental, and vision plans.

According to the news report, cost information would be reported based on “similarly situated” employees who receive the same level of coverage, such as individual or family coverage, but not based on the worker’s actual health care use during the year.

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