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DAVID GUIDRY SAYS good times in the oil patch have his back to the wall when it comes to offering employee health care benefits.
Guidry is the owner of Guico, a contract manufacturer of precision machine parts in Harvey. In order to hire and retain quality employees, the small business owner feels pressured to provide the benefit. But a predicted rise in health care premiums means he have to continue shopping around for the best deal.
"It's no time to trim," says Guidry, whose firm has about 40 employees. He's already gone from a traditional indemnity plan to a less expensive health maintenance organization. His next step is to try to lock in two-year rates to keep costs steady. Any other money-saving moves could cause valuable employees to jump ship.
Guidry and others like him should prepare themselves for increases in the premiums for HMOs and other managed care plans, says Alan Jenks, who publishes a health care business report in Atlanta. Managed care companies that reduced prices in 1995 and '96 to build their memberships have realized they are underpricing their products, he says.
Jenks likens the...