Health coverage shrinks as costs up again: study
November 19, 2007 - Reuters
The cost of providing health care for workers rose again in 2007 to nearly $8,000 annually per employee, prompting more businesses to drop the benefit, according to an annual business survey released on Monday.
Costs rose by 6.1 percent, about the same pace as last year but lower than the double-digit rates of prior years.
But that's still more than twice the rate of inflation, and costs to businesses would be even higher if they had not shifted more of it to the workers and their families, the National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health plans found.
The survey by employee benefits firm Mercer included nearly 3,000 private and public employers with 10 or more workers. In keeping with trends of recent years, businesses with fewer than 200 workers were more likely to cut back on coverage than larger ones.
Bootstrap HR: 7 Ways to Lower Benefit Costs Without Decreasing Coverage
October, 2007 - Workforce Managment
It's a hard-knock life HR people live.
By now you’ve read the latest yin and yang of benefits news. Health care premium increases rose at their lowest rate in eight years. But the increase is still more than 6 percent, and that’s still more than twice the rate of inflation. It far exceeds the average annual increase (3.6 percent) for employees in the U.S.
With that data in mind, the reality remains the same. Your benefit cost structure is increasing, and it remains difficult to shift some, much less all, of the increasing costs to employees. The crunch continues, and you’re in the middle. Your CEO is looking to you, the HR pro, to squeeze dollars out of the overall plan structure without causing a riot. So much so that she walks into your office and asks the following question:
"You follow these things: What can we do to reduce our benefit costs without dropping coverage levels significantly or increasing employee contributions?"
Yikes! That’s a creditability call for HR—an opportunity to be at the table. Or to clean the table after the meeting if you don’t have a meaningful response.
Toolkit outlines best practices in health coverage for mothers, children and adolescents
November 8, 2007 - Employee Benefit News
To help employers improve the health of children, adolescents, and women of childbearing age, as well as potentially reduce health care costs, the National Business Group on Health recently unveiled a comprehensive publication for employers.
It offers a maternal and child health plan benefit model, includes case studies from Marriott International and AOL and lists best practices and suggestions for cost structure and plan design. It was developed by an advisory board of business leaders and representatives from leading medical associations.
As an employer, if you improve the health of child-bearing women, children and adolescents, you will see lower overall health care costs, increased productivity, improved retention and less turnover than employers that do not offer similar programs, says Helen Darling, president of NBGH.
About $1 of every $5 spent on health care by large employers is used for maternal and child health care, the report estimates.
Trendsetter Barometer
November, 14, 2007 - PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Healthcare costs are hurting 57% of fast-growing private businesses
According to the most recent PricewaterhouseCoopers Private Company Services’ Trendsetter Barometer, most fast-growth private businesses (57%) claim to have suffered an impact from increased healthcare costs over the past 12 months, and/or expect to suffer wage/hiring impacts over the next year. Specifically, higher costs contributed to slower profit-growth (43%), while 38% foresee additional wage or hiring impacts in the next year. Anticipated hardships include lower wage increases for current employees (34%), slower hiring (10%), and/or hiring of more part-time versus full time workers (10%).
Overall success of current healthcare plans
Despite the negative impact of higher healthcare costs, most private company CEOs (58%) believe their current healthcare plans are "successful", while 21% say their plans are only "moderately successful", and 14% have been mixed or not successful However, nearly half reportedly have no metrics in place by which to objectively measure the effectiveness of their healthcare plans.
How “Trendsetter” companies measure success
A slight majority (51%) of “Trendsetter” companies report measuring the success of their healthcare plans. The most typical measurement used is “improved employee morale” (32%).
