The most obvious trends among employer-sponsored medical plans have been well documented: broad cost-shifting to employees, deductibles on the rise, specialty prescription costs skyrocketing.
But beneath these high-level plan characteristics lies another level that is not as well quantified. In its 2016 Medical Plan Trends and Observations Report, leadership and technology consulting firm CEB digs deeper into plan characteristics that emerged this year.
Virtual Care
CEB's research discloses a 50 percent gain in the number of companies in the survey that say they are using telemedicine services—one of the largest jumps in any category. More than a third now offer these services; by 2018, that will grow to 64 percent.
Implications for executives: As online patient medical consultations explode, “employers should educate employees on the appropriateness of virtual care for their health care needs. For example, employers should emphasize that virtual consultations are not a substitute for regular visits with a primary care physician.”
Wellness Incentives
About half of those surveyed have wellness programs, and they're ramping up the incentives to promote participation.
Implications: “Wellness programs, when strategic in nature and offered holistically (including emotional, mental, and even financial wellness), can further improve the employers' operations by increasing employee productivity, engagement, and retention.”
Pregnancy Costs
Although the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) requires employers to offer many free maternity services, not all fall under the Act's requirements. And employers are raising the employee share of those costs. In fact, the survey found that out-of-pocket expenses for an in-hospital birth were up 35 percent this year.
Implications: “Organizations should be wary of increasing hospital costs too aggressively, as employees are particularly cost-sensitive to them, especially for maternity-related services.” Option: “Offer financial planning and counseling to help employees choose the best plan and save (through health savings accounts) for post-pregnancy services.”
Surcharges
Employers are looking to spousal surcharges to recover some costs, with “41 percent of employers introducing or planning to introduce spousal surcharges and a few even excluding spouses from coverage altogether.”
Implications: “Use of spousal surcharges may merit a closer look as many employers consider eliminating same-sex domestic partner coverage (as it is rolled into spousal coverage).”
CEB's overall advice to management is that cost-cutting and shifting of costs to employees may be “trendy” in 2016, but top-performing companies will want to weigh the benefits of cost management versus the benefits of a workforce that is more engaged. When employees enjoy a healthy benefits package that doesn't nickel-and-dime them, but allows them to utilize their coverage for better health, they perform better.
Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to Treasury & Risk, part of your ALM digital membership.
Your access to unlimited Treasury & Risk content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Thought leadership on regulatory changes, economic trends, corporate success stories, and tactical solutions for treasurers, CFOs, risk managers, controllers, and other finance professionals
- Informative weekly newsletter featuring news, analysis, real-world case studies, and other critical content
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
