Health Insurance Daily

Variety Of Strategies Needed To Curb Health Costs

As use of consumer-driven health plans grows, employers that are most successful at containing cost increases are implementing a wide variety of tactics to encourage consumerism, according to new research from the National Business Group on Health.

Roughly 29% of employers offer a high-deductible health plan with a health savings account or health reimbursement arrangement this year, compared to 13% last year and 7% in 2004. Another 33% plan to do so next year, the survey of 508 mid-sized and large employers shows. Median employee enrollment in HDHPs is 7%.

The companies that are most successful in stemming medical inflation tend to combine consumer-driven plans with other strategies, like pay-for-performance, health improvement programs, health risk appraisals, claims analysis, purchasing coalitions, nurse help lines and giving workers provider cost information.

Watson Wyatt consultant Ted Nussbaum comments, “The best-performing companies are using various tactics to engage employees and lower cost trends because they recognize that all employees may not be driven by financial incentives alone.”

About 80% of firms say consumer-driven health plans are effective at increasing employee involvement in health care decision-making, and 59% consider them effective at controlling health care cost increases. However, mere cost-shifting to workers does not reduce overall cost increases, the survey finds.

“Employers should not focus on employee accountability alone,” says NBGH President Helen Darling. “When used in combination with promoting quality care, health management, use of data and appropriate use of care, companies are able to achieve significantly lower cost trends.”

Article provided by BenefitNews - March 21, 2006

posted by Mike @ 8:00 AM