Health Insurance Daily

Companies Save Money With Online Health Tools

What makes some employers better than others at controlling health care costs? Offering their employees online tools to facilitate medical decisions, for one, according to Watson Wyatt and the National Business Group on Health. Companies that excel at reining in medical costs are 108% more likely than others to offer their employees comprehensive online resources, the joint survey of 585 companies finds.

It is not enough to provide tools that allow side-by-side comparisons of health insurance options, the survey shows. While 58% of those polled do supply such tools, the top cost-cutters carry this practice to a new level. They are 36% more likely to offer quality comparison tools and 36% more likely to provide tools that show the tax impact of health care decisions, such as signing up for a flexible spending account.

"Tools that allow employees to consider many facets of their health care can make a significant difference in the health care options employees choose," says Jeri Stepman, national leader for health and welfare administration at Watson Wyatt.

Article provided by BenefitNews, June 1, 2006.

posted by Mike @ 9:49 AM