With changes to health care reform beginning to be implemented, organizations across the country are evaluating options in an effort to keep medical benefits competitive while remaining affordable. According to the Washington Employers Benefits Survey, administered by Wells Fargo, health care reform appears to have impacted the dialogue on medical plan funding.

Some interesting statistics emerged from the study. Across the board, participants from the survey identified increases in the year-over-year rate for their medical plans (after plan design, plan management, and plan option changes).

  • 69% reported that their medical plan costs increased from 2011 to 2012
  • 31% reported no increase or a rate decrease
  • 94% reported an increase in medical costs of less than 15%
  • 4% reported an increase of 16-20%,
  • 2% reported an increase greater than 20%

Also, more employers appear to be looking at the option of self-funding their medical plans. Fifty percent of respondents plan to remain fully-insured (down from 59% percent in 2011) and 31% of respondents’ plan to remain self-insured.  There are many questions that still remain about the impact of health care reform and we don’t necessarily know all the answers.  But, we can be assured that benefit plans will continue to be one of the costliest items on your balance sheet.

So, how do organizations continue to ensure they are creating plans that work for their employees, as well as remain affordable for the company and the staff?  Do your homework. Many of our clients use brokers to assist them with identifying the right plan.  If you are not using your brokers to help you figure out what will work for your organization, I urge you to do so.  Many brokers will be able to provide survey statistics for the area where you are located, the industry you are in and compare your organization to similar sized organizations.  A good broker will provide a thorough analysis and compare one carrier or plan over the other.  Brokers can assist you in finding the plan option(s) that make the most sense for your company.  Don’t have a broker yet?  Need to find a good one?  Network with your peers and do interviews.  Find the right fit for your business and style.   Remember, you should be just as comfortable with the person as the price.

 

We at HR Advisors Group will continue to monitor health care reform to help our clients understand how the reforms will impact them, both short-term and long-term.  Our series of blogs for the month of February will be focusing on benefits, trends and other issues both in health care and other related topics. We encourage you to participate in our discussion.