Employers' employee benefits decisions have been largely impacted by how the economy has affected companies, a new report indicates.
According to its 2012 Benefits Selling Employer Survey, Aon Hewitt reports that nearly 90 percent of employers were influenced by the country's fiscal climate when dealing with the benefit programs they made available to workers. As a result, nearly three in every four said that their employees will likely take on more of their own healthcare costs.
"Employers have taken a lot of the historical approaches to manage benefits costs, such as changing plan design elements, tweaking copays or deductibles, and adjusting employee contribution amounts," Maureen Fay, senior vice president of the health and benefits consulting practice at Aon Hewitt, told BenefitsPro.
She added, however, that given today's fiscal climate, those more traditional steps "aren't cutting it anymore," so employers have had to resort to more stringent ways in which to cut costs.
She added that employers have put more of a focus on health maintenance programs so individuals can stay in good shape, thereby avoiding trips to the doctor.
