As Cayuga County considers whether or not to increase health insurance premiums for its workers, more and more companies nationwide are shifting the cost of health care to their employees.

Preliminary results of Mercer Human Resource Consulting's 2005 National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans show that nearly two-thirds of large employers and 35 percent of small businesses said they would shift health-care costs to their employees to help reduce expenses.

Blaine Bos, office business leader for Mercer Health and Benefits and an author of the survey, said that two of the main reasons for increasing costs are an aging population and an increase in health benefit utilization. Prices are also increasingly quickly because of new technological advances, Bos said.

But Bos said that such cost-shifting methods can only work for so long before they negatively impact both the employee and the employer. If people can no longer afford preventive care, their health can affect productivity, he said.

“There has to be a balance struck in terms of what can be passed through,” Bos said. “At some point, that strategy kind of runs out of gas.”

Cost-shifting isn't just a term that applies to the private sector.

The price of health care for the city of Auburn has been increasing by about 10 percent annually because of rising costs and an increasing number of people on the plans, said Auburn Comptroller Lisa Green. Healthcare costs account for 10.2 percent of the city's budget, Green said. That's $3.5 million for health and dental, to which employees and retirees contribute about $550,000.

While the city picks up 100 percent of the health insurance premiums for current city councilors, any new councilors elected in November will have to pay 20 percent of the monthly premium their first year, 15 percent their second and 10 percent for their third year and every year thereafter. Those are the same contribution percentages paid by city employees in the civil service employees union, CSEA. The city was paying 100 percent of the union's premiums until the mid-1990s, according to Green.

But the change for the councilors won't provide the city with a huge amount of savings, Green added. If one new councilor elects coverage, they would only pay $70.39 (for family) or $31.53 (for individual) per pay period.

The city is also hoping it can stem rising costs, thanks to amended employee prescription plans for the CSEA and the police and fire department unions. The maximum out-of-pocket expense for prescription drugs has been raised from $20 to $30 for those employees.

“We're hoping that will at least stop the rise of the drug portion,” Green said, noting that prescriptions can account for up to 40 percent of the city's total health insurance costs.

In June, teachers in the Auburn Enlarged City School District adopted a contract that requires faculty members who retired after July 1, 2000 to pay a portion of their health insurance, though the increase was softened somewhat by a 4-percent annual salary increase for teachers through 2008. The school district's health-care (life, dental and health) costs rose from $6 million to $6.7 million in the 2005-06 budget.

In Cayuga County, civil service union employees receive free individual healthcare. But in 2002, the Cayuga County Legislature passed a resolution requiring non-bargaining employees, officers, retirees and legislators to pay 10 percent of the cost of individual premiums.

Legislators have yet to see their share increase, however, as a stipulation in the resolution says that the employees must receive a raise before the contribution clause kicks in.

Staff writer Linda Ober can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or linda.ober@lee.net