Employer-sponsored healthcare costs will rise at a fairly uniform rate this year regardless of the type of plan, according to a report.
Buck Consultants' "National Healthcare Trend Survey 2012" found that point-of-service plans (PPO), health maintenance organization plans (HMO) and high-deductible health plans (HDHP) will all experience cost increases of about 10 percent. Insurers expect the same factors to influence costs for different health plan types this year, researchers say, accounting for the closeness of the projected results.
That increase is lower than projections for previous years, which the report attributes to a combination of lower consumer healthcare spending and a firmer grasp on the impact healthcare reform will have on the industry. Additionally, research by PwC Health Research Institute (HRI) indicates healthcare spending growth will drop to 7.5 percent next year, a historical low. HRI's annual "Behind the Numbers" report projects consumer spending choices, employer and industry efforts to lower costs and a slow economy will cause this.
Medical spending tends to rebound during economic recoveries, researchers say, but has grown slowly during the past three years. This may be helpful for employers and workers attempting to limit their expenditures on employee benefit healthcare coverage.
