BI Weekly 5: Rising cost of health care

September 18, 2012
Filed under Weekly 5

Editor’s Note: The BI Weekly 5 is a collection of tips, news and data affecting the boating industry this week. Be sure to look for the BI Weekly 5 every Tuesday on BoatingIndustry.com.

1. Health care costs still rising, but increases slowing

The cost of health insurance continues to outpace inflation and wage growth, but 2012’s 4 percent increase is low compared to recent years.

That’s according to the 14th annual Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET) 2012 Employer Health Benefits Survey. Annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage reached $15,745 this year, with workers on average paying $4,316 toward the cost of their coverage.

Survey respondents who have already received pricing information for 2013 reported an average increase of 7 percent for next year.

2. What can the GoDaddy outage teach you?

When the world’s largest website registrar went down last week, it also pointed to the potential vulnerability of websites for many companies. (GoDaddy also hosts some 5 million websites, mostly for small businesses.)

Here’s some great advice from (of all places) Home Accents Today, a trade site for home furnishing pros. Whether a boat dealer or a widget manufacturer, there are lessons to be learned about managing your website in the outage.

3. Small biz finding social media more useful than ever

A new study from Vocus and Duct Tape Marketing shows that small businesses are increasingly reliant on social media for their marketing.

Here are some key takeaways, but the entire study is work checking out:

77 percent of small businesses say social media accounts for more than 25 percent of their marketing.
87 percent of small businesses say social media has been at least somewhat helpful.
On average, social media accounts for 32 percent of small businesses’ marketing efforts.
Facebook is the champ, used by 73 percent of businesses. LinkedIn (61 percent), Twitter (55 percent), YouTube (47 percent) and Google+ (44 percent) round out the top five.

4. More boating safety legislation on the way

Two more developments on the legislative front for boating safety, both in response to the July 4 Oyster Bay accident in which three children died.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has proposed federal legislation that would have the Coast Guard develop capacity and weight limits for boats more than 20 ft. long and require those limits be clearly posted.

In local action, the Suffolk County (N.Y.) Legislature, passed last week a new law that requires county boaters to take a boating safety class before taking their boats on local waters.