While owners of large businesses may do everything they can to ensure that their employee benefits stay affordable – enabling as many of their staff members as possible to obtain coverage for themselves and family members – a recent study suggests that workers may have to contribute more of their paychecks to cover health premiums.
Health care benefit costs among plans offered by employers are expected to increase by 6.5 percent next year, the National Business Group on Health reported. That's down from the 7 percent that employers said they would have to raise premiums up to in order to offset higher expenses. However, many business owners have been able to alter their plan designs in an effort to keep tabs on spending.
The survey, which garnered responses from 136 firms around the country, was performed this past June.
Brian Marcotte, NBGH president and CEO, indicated that the Affordable Care Act is still a major issue that employers are taking into account when establishing their health plans for workers.
"Despite the many distractions that the Affordable Care Act has created, large employers haven't lost sight of the fact that rising health care costs remain a significant issue that needs to be constantly addressed," said Marcotte. "Our survey shows that many employers are, in fact, taking necessary steps to rein in costs. This includes partnering with workers to engage in health care decisions and educating them to be better health care consumers, as well as sharing more costs with workers and narrowing their benefit options."
CDHPs now more popular
There are many different ways in which business owners are strategizing in an aim to keep health care costs under control. For example, more than three-quarters of employers said that they are attempting to make their workers better health care consumers through expanding or adding different tools that employees can use to manage their health plans, NBGH reported. Additionally, more than half of respondents – 57 percent – said that they're offering consumer-directed health plans and 53 percent indicated their making more wellness programs or offerings available. In fact, close to one-third said CDHPs would be made available to their staff in 2015, up from 22 percent in 2014.
Though CDHPs were once fairly uncommon, they're not only offered more frequently now, but those who have them typically like them. A recent study from the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that the satisfaction gap between those who have traditional health plans and CDHPs is narrowing considerably.
"As in previous years of the survey, in 2013 individuals in a CDHP or an HDHP were found to be less likely than those in a traditional plan both to recommend their health plan to friends or co-workers, and to stay with their current health plan if they had the opportunity to switch plans," said Paul Fronstin, director of health research and education at EBRI. "As in previous years of the survey, in 2013 individuals in a CDHP or an HDHP were found to be less likely than those in a traditional plan both to recommend their health plan to friends or co-workers, and to stay with their current health plan if they had the opportunity to switch plans."
Exchange use may become more commonplace in the years ahead. the NBGH poll found that just 3 percent intend to offer employee benefits through private exchanges next year, but 35 percent said they would consider doing this in 2016.
