Benefit Insight

Nearly all employers, regardless of size or industry, have a clear interest in expanding initiatives to help employees manage their personal health more effectively, both as a means to lower plan costs and to have a more stable, productive workforce, according to results released today from United Benefit Advisors’ (UBA) 2007 Employer
Survey. The annual survey polls employers as to the extent and effectiveness of their current and planned wellness and disease management programs, the range of employee benefits offered, the various employee communications strategies in place or contemplated, and employers’ wish list for future initiatives in these critical areas.

“This year’s survey corroborated last year’s key finding that there are far fewer differences in either current or desired services among employers in different industry groups or with differing numbers of employees than was commonly assumed,” said David LoCascio, UBA’s Co-Founder. “The increasing applicability of web-based solutions and the growing sophistication of benefits advisors has leveled the playing field, allowing employers of all sizes to have access to tools and services that were previously available only to large employers.”

There were also striking similarities regarding the items that dominated employers’ wish list for the future, with between 30% to 50% of all employers hoping to add:

* Employee decision support tools (projected employee out-of-pocket
costs for various plans offered, projected total costs for a given
condition, tax implications of FSA or HSA contributions, etc.)

* Formal wellness and disease management programs

* Cost and quality information for hospitals, physicians, and
prescription drugs

* Early-warning tools to identify chronic conditions and potentially
serious claims

* Online enrollment/employee self-service

The adoption of personal health-management strategies by employers of all sizes continues to increase. Roughly 25% of all employers currently provide various wellness and/or health risk assessment programs, and an additional 50% of employers would like to add such programs in the future.

In addition, employers now overwhelmingly believe there should be a difference in benefits and/or costs based on an employee’s involvement in managing any chronic conditions.
“Employer involvement in helping to manage the health of its workforce has been rapidly gaining momentum,” said LoCascio. “The old approach of simply hoping for good claims experience has not worked, and employers are increasingly assuming more responsibility and control in an effort to impact both plan costs and employee productivity.”

Employers are also placing a greater emphasis on educating employees as to the reasons for plan changes and on how they can help improve their health and reduce the cost of their health plans. Survey findings in this
area include:

* 73% of all employers think employees can become better healthcare
consumers if given the tools to do so (provider cost and quality
information, employer-based education on how to manage costs, employee
decision support tools, etc.), significantly more than the 53% who
feel that plan design changes (High Deductible plans, increased
co-insurance, etc.) will make better consumers.

* Employee education initiatives also extend to retirement plans with
more than 50% of all employers now providing employees with in-person
consultations with financial professionals regarding their retirement
savings and investment options.

“Employers of all sizes have seen that proactive health management programs and effective employee communication can have a notable direct impact on plan costs,” said LoCascio. “Employees have a huge vested interest in helping contain costs in order to both stem the erosion in plan benefits and their share of higher premium costs; and most are willing and able to do so if provided the tools and information required.”

The results are based on the responses of 1,746 employers comprising a representative cross-section of companies across all industry groups, various employee size categories, and regions of the country. Copies of the survey are available for purchase via UBA’s website at www.benefits.com.

A companion report, the 2007 UBA Annual Health Plan Survey, will be released later this year. With responses from 13,843 health plans sponsored by more than 9,600 employers nationwide, last year’s 2006 UBA survey was by
far the largest and most comprehensive survey of plan design and plan costs ever conducted. The report provided vital benchmark statistics on hundreds of health plan factors, including detailed enrollment, plan design, plan
cost, employee premium cost-sharing, prescription drug, retiree plan, and flexible spending account norms.