San Francisco to require employers pay more for employee health care

Employers in San Francisco with more than 100 employees will have to contribute more to their employees' health care starting in 2013.

Modern Healthcare/Crain's Business Insurance: San Francisco Ups Employer's Health Care Spending Requirement For 2013
Employers with workers in San Francisco will have to pay more next year to comply with the city's health care spending law. Beginning on Jan. 1, 2013, employers with 100 or more employees in San Francisco will be required to spend $2.33 per hour per covered employee on health care, up from $2.20 in 2012, city officials announced this week (Geisel, 8/22).

Elsewhere, three major insurers in Connecticut are asking for rate increases of 13-14 percent for small business coverage --

CT Mirror: Three Major Insurers Seek Up To 14 Percent Rate Hike For Small Business Coverage
In recent weeks, Aetna, ConnectiCare and Anthem all have requested rate hikes of 13 to 14 percent for small-business coverage. That's just below the 15 percent threshold that could trigger a public hearing on the proposed increases. The requests have some health care advocates questioning whether increases are still too high. Insurance companies say the hikes reflect the cost of mandated federal benefits required by the Affordable Care Act (Merritt, 8/22).