NU Online News Service, May 6, 6:35 p.m. – Health care costs are continuing to skyrocket for the fourth year in a row. Managed care costs are rising even faster. Employers and many of their brokers are sputtering with rage.
But Nancy Weaver, a securities analyst with Stephens Inc., Little Rock, Ark., predicts the federal government will probably keep its hands off for several more years, even if premiums continue to head toward orbit.
“It very much depends on what happens with the elections in Washington,” Weaver says.
If either the Democrats or the Republicans win enough seats in both the House and the Senate to gain a decisive edge, Weaver thinks one party or the other might be able to enact some kind of major reform legislation.
A severe recession could also change the legislative climate, Weaver says.
“Otherwise, I think it’s going to be three or four years before the situation reaches a crisis level,” Weaver says.