U.S. nonprofit organizations are being especially
hard-hit by the escalating costs of health benefits,
according to a new report issued by the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies as part
of its
Nonprofit Listening Post Project.
Looking at a nationwide sample of more than 250
nonprofit agencies that serve children, the elderly,
community development and the arts, the Johns Hopkins
survey documents for the first time the impact of exploding
health benefits costs on U.S. charitable organizations.
The survey found that nearly two-thirds (63 percent)
of sampled organizations reported health benefit cost
increases of 11 percent or more over the past year, well
above the increases recently reported for all firms.
These increases affected virtually all types of
charities.
Determined to avoid negative impacts on those they
serve and unable to raise additional funds, nonprofits
found it necessary to shift more costs onto their
employees, who already make less than private sector
workers. Altogether, more than 60 percent of the
organizations reported increasing their employees' share of
health costs. Still others eliminated raises or reduced
other employee benefits in response to rising health
benefits costs.
Escalating health benefit costs are particularly
damaging to nonprofit organizations because health benefits
are among the most important attractions of nonprofit
employment. A striking 93 percent of Listening Post
organizations reported providing health insurance coverage
for their employees, well above the average for all
firms.
"The extraordinary growth of health benefits costs
revealed by this survey has imposed a silent tax on
America's charities and the dedicated people who work for
them," said Lester M. Salamon, who directs the Listening
Post Project and the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society
Studies.
Peter Goldberg, chair of the Listening Post Project
Advisory Committee and president/CEO of the Alliance for
Children and Families, a national association of children
and family agencies, said, "Shifting more health care costs
to nonprofit employees may be the path of least resistance,
but it may also be the path to oblivion for our
organizations, which depend on the dedication of our
employees to meet the health and welfare needs of our
often-disadvantaged populations."
If health insurance costs continue to escalate, as now
seems likely, nonprofit executives say they expect even
more severe impacts on their employees, their operations
and ultimately those they serve.
"Health care affordability is a looming crisis in the
theater field," said Ben Cameron, executive director of the
Theatre Communications Group in New York City, one of the
partner organizations in the Listening Post Project.
Audrey Alvarado, executive director of the National
Council of Nonprofit Associations, another Listening Post
Project partner organization, said, "While much has been
written about the impact of rising health benefit costs on
small businesses, the fact is that the impact has been even
greater on nonprofit organizations, and this has a serious
ripple effect on the quality of community life."
Larry Minnix, president of the American Association of
Homes and Services for the Aging, also a Listening Post
Project partner organization, said, "Recent proposals to
fix the health insurance crisis by offering tax breaks to
small businesses provide no relief to nonprofit
organizations. We need to be more inventive if we want to
fashion policy approaches that can effectively shield
nonprofit organizations and those they serve from the
crippling effects of continued health insurance cost
increases."
For a copy of the Listening Post Project Health
Benefits Report, or further information on the Listening
Post Project, contact the Center for Civil Society Studies
at the Institute for Policy Studies,
listeningpostproject@jhu.edu or 410-516-4363.