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 Benefits costs will rise only 5 percent for employers that take
certain cost-reduction measures, instead of 6.5 percent for
companies that do not, according to a June survey of employers
representing 7.5 million workers by the National Business Group on
Health.
Although costs are not rising as quickly, employees are still being
squeezed.
The main way companies are keeping healthcare costs in line is by
shifting workers into high-deductible health plans, defined by the
Internal Revenue Service as having deductibles above $1,250 for an
individual. (http://www.irs.gov/publications/p969/ar02.html)
For 2015, 81 percent of employers will offer a high-deductible plan
as an option, up from 72 percent last year; while 32 percent will
offer such plans as the only option, up from 22 percent last year.
The challenge employers face is: "How do you keep costs from
spiraling out of control but not shift all of it to the employee?"
said Karen Marlo, a vice president at NGBH who authored the report.
Data on average premium and out-of-pocket increases consumers can
expect in their next benefits packets will follow from other
research groups covering the health insurance industry.
"You need to get smart and look at the whole package," said Jeff
Bakke, a board member of the Healthcare Trends Institute, a
non-partisan trade group. "What you pay for premiums and
out-of-pocket, which averages about $9,000, could feed a family of
four for a year," he added.
LOSE WEIGHT, STOP SMOKING
The other major cost-saving measure for employers cited in the study
is related to wellness programs.
Fifty-three percent of large companies plan to add or expand such
programs in 2015. The programs encourage employees to lose weight,
quit smoking and make other healthy lifestyle changes, mostly by
offering cash incentives that amount to $600 per person, the report
found.
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While companies find these programs to be one of the most effective
ways to save money, there is no quantitative data about the overall
impact on employees' health or how much money it saves employers.
"When people say wellness will be the key to saving us all money,
maybe they jumped the gun on that," NGBH's Marlo said. "There is a
larger component, though. A healthier employee might save money down
the road."
Other cost-saving measures reported in the survey were mostly
restrictions on care or medication, including requiring prior
authorization or quantity limits on specialty medications or
narrowing the network of doctor choices.
(Follow us @ReutersMoney or at http://www.reuters.com/finance/personal-finance.
Editing by Lauren Young and Dan Grebler)
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