Survey: Fewer costs falling on employees

More companies are using wellness programs and health savings accounts.
By ANDI ATWATER
MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS
WICHITA, Kan. -- Employers are shifting fewer health care costs to employees this year and focusing more on consumer-driven health care and wellness programs, a new survey found.
Mercer Health & amp; Benefits released its 2006 national survey of employer-sponsored health plans Monday. It examines more than 3,000 employers and provides a snapshot of the challenges businesses face and the solutions they are considering.
Employer premiums this year increased an average of 6.1 percent to 7,523 per employee, the same rate of increase as last year.
Next year, employers are expecting premiums to increase an average of 6.7 percent, making 2007 the third year in a row that costs are projected to rise in single digits.
That's an upside, Mercer principal Mark Whiting said. Benefits inflation peaked at almost 14.7 percent in 2002, driving much of the strategic changes that are helping control costs today.
"The positive side is that it isn't a 15-percent increase -- it isn't going way out of bounds," he said. "On the flip side, it's still twice as high as the Consumer Price Index. It's growing faster than your salary."
Because cost-shifting to workers has its limits -- and many employers are reaching those -- the Mercer survey found companies are embracing more aspects of consumer-driven health care, including wellness programs and health savings accounts.
Findings
The survey found that 6 percent of employers offered consumer-driven plans in 2006, three times the rate in 2005. Another 14 percent of employers said they plan to offer them in 2007.
That's not a large number of employers overall, but it is becoming a national trend as businesses struggle to find ways to keep health care costs down. This is of particular interest to employers with fewer than 500 employees. That group saw costs rise 7 percent, the survey found.
"We've seen several members in the past 12 months that have simply got out of providing health insurance as a benefit -- they just can't afford it any more," said Cliff Sones, president of the Wichita Independent Business Association, whose 1,600 members are primarily small businesses.