Seventy-Nine Percent of Chief Human Resource Officers Expect Health Care Legislation to Increase Cost of Health Care

Date: Monday, March 8, 2010

Washington, DC, March 5, 2010 — In a recent survey of the membership of HR Policy Association, 79 percent of chief human resources officers expect current health care reform legislation to increase the cost of health care for their companies and their employees. Only four percent of respondents anticipate that it will decrease costs. The Association represents the senior HR executives from 300 of the nation’s largest employers.

In addition, the survey found that among those who expect cost increases:

• 34 percent foresee cost increases of more than 10 percent;
  
• 41 percent foresee cost increases of 6 to 10 percent; and
  
• 25 percent foresee cost increases of 5 percent or less.

Respondents to the annual HR Policy survey form a broad cross-section of large employers in the United States. HR Policy member companies employ more than 18 million employees and have a combined market capitalization of more than $7.5 trillion.

HR Policy Association recently called on Congress to give “far greater consideration to the views of the employer community which provides billions of dollars annually to fund the nation’s employment-based system of health care.”

To view the statement by Jeffrey C. McGuiness, President and CEO of the HR Policy Association, representing the views of association members on reform of the U.S. health care system visit: www.hrpolicy.org/downloads/2010/10-
22%20Revised%20HR%20Policy%20HC%20reform%20statement_02%2016%2010.pdf.

HR Policy Association is the lead organization representing chief human resource officers of major employers. The Association consists of nearly 300 of the largest corporations doing business in the United States and globally, and these employers are represented in the organization by their most senior human resource executive. Collectively, their companies employ more than 18 million employees worldwide and have a combined market capitalization of more than $7.5 trillion. These senior corporate officers participate in the Association because of their passionate interest in the direction of human resource policy. Their objective is to use the combined power of the membership to act as a positive influence to improve public policy, the HR marketplace, and the human resource profession. For more information visit www.hrpolicy.org.