NBGH Annual Employer Survey Results

Large employers expect their insurance costs to rise by 7 percent next year, which is similar to prior years, according to an annual survey by the National Business Group on Health. The companies also said they’re expecting some currently covered workers to opt to buy coverage on the insurance exchanges next year, especially those who are covered by a COBRA plan, early retirees, and part-time, seasonal or low-wage workers.

The survey is based on responses in May and June from 108 self-insured large businesses. They were asked about what coverage they’re offering workers, how they’re controlling health care costs and how they’re responding to the Affordable Care Act. None of the businesses surveyed said they are considering ceasing to offer coverage next year — although the survey was conducted before the Obama administration announced a one-year postponement of the penalty for businesses failing to offer coverage. Three percent said they’re considering dropping coverage in 2015 and paying the penalty instead.

Nearly all of the businesses surveyed offer individual coverage, but some expect certain workers will find a better deal on the insurance exchanges starting next year, especially if they qualify for subsidies. A number of businesses said they expect part-time employees and seasonal workers to opt for the exchanges, but 12 percent said they also expected full-time employees to choose exchange plans. The survey also found a moderate increase in interest among employers regarding private exchanges.

Survey: Employees Do Not Want More Control over Health Insurance Decisions

Fifty-four percent of U.S. workers prefer not to have more control over health insurance options because making such decisions is daunting, a survey says.  The third annual Aflac WorkForces Report -- an online survey of nearly 1,900 benefits decision-makers and more than 5,200 U.S. workers -- was conducted in January by Research Now and released by Aflac, a provider of supplemental and guaranteed-renewable insurance in the United States.

The survey found 62 percent of workers said medical costs they would be responsible for would increase, but only 23 percent were saving money for potential increases.  Seventy-five percent of workers said they think their employer would educate them about changes to their healthcare coverage as a result of the Affordable Care Act, but only 13 percent of employers said educating employees about healthcare reform was important to their organization.

Fifty-three percent said they feared their employers might not adequately manage their coverage, leaving their families less protected. Eighty-nine percent admitted they chose the same benefits year over year -- and many don't understand the options provided.

Even though educating employees is a low priority, helping workers learn how to manage their health care choices effectively presents an opportunity for employers to demonstrate they care about their employees, and to curb potential absenteeism, low morale, and low productivity.

Companies Plan to Increase Wellness Spending, Survey Shows

A survey of more than 500 employers found that 40% expect to increase wellness budgets and that current top programs include easy-to-implement initiatives such as flu shots, health communications and discount programs. OptumHealth Care Solutions vice president Beena Thomas said 47% of large companies are interested in environmental strategies that influence behavior, such as stocking healthy foods at eye-level in vending machines. Accordingly, 40% of respondents anticipate that their company’s wellness budget will increase in the near future, up from 30% from the group’s 2011 survey.

Large Companies Are Increasingly Offering Workers Only High Deductible Health Plans

Historically, one of the perks of working at a big company has been generous health benefits with modest out-of-pocket costs. But increasingly, large companies are offering their employees only one option: a plan with a relatively high deductible linked to a savings account for medical expenses.

According to the annual health benefits survey by Towers Watson and the National Business Group on Health, 66 percent of companies with 1,000 employees or more offered at least one such plan this year. This figure is expected to grow to nearly 80 percent next year, according to the survey. At nearly 15 percent of companies surveyed, an account-based plan was the only option -- an increase from 7.6 percent in 2010.

In addition to saving companies money, shifting to health plans with higher deductibles and savings accounts is supposed to help workers become more cost-conscious in choosing health care. But the extent to which this is occurring is unclear. Because these account-based plans often expose workers to higher out-of-pocket spending, experts say the onus is on employers to give employees information they need to compare cost and quality and make good health care choices.  Whether this shift toward high deductible health plans continues may depend on whether good data and information can be made available to employees so that employers actually do see costs come down.

The Affordable Care Act Turns Three

Saturday,  March 23, 2013 marks the passage of three years since President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) into law.  Much work has been done to implement the various provisions of the law, and progress is being made toward achieving the overall goal of increasing access to coverage for many Americans.  But much work is yet to be done, especially during this year as we ramp up to January 1, 2014 when the ACA insurance exchanges are due to go live.

As you may have seen in recent weeks, there have been a few new surveys showing that Americans still are not familiar with the various aspects of the law.  All health care stakeholders have a role to play in educating and raising awareness about what the law will (and will not) do.  As you celebrate the ACA's birthday, take some time out of your busy day to take the Kaiser Family Foundation's health reform quiz - 10 questions to test your own  knowledge about the myths and facts of the ACA!

Survey: Texas employers sharing accountability and decision-making with employees when it comes to health care

A Texas Business Group on Health (TBGH) survey found that Texas employers are increasingly sharing accountability and decision-making with employees when it comes to health care. More than 70 large and mid-size employers who provide health benefits for more than 1 million people across the state and nationally participated. The survey was conducted to gain insight into new strategies being adopted by employers to improve employee health and productivity and manage increasing health-related costs through plan design, cost-sharing and employee engagement.

The survey also found that employers are increasingly turning to high-deductible Consumer-Directed Health Plans (CDHPs) and using strategic communications initiatives to provide members with new tools and resources to engage and empower them to actively choose healthy lifestyles and make savvy, knowledge-based health care decisions.

Additional details can be found here.

Midwest Business Group on Health Employer Survey on Biologics/Specialty Pharmacy

Advances in biotechnology have led to the development of new medical therapies for a variety of diseases. Among these advances is a category of medications called specialty drugs, which include biologics that treat life-threatening diseases like cancer, hemophilia and HIV/AIDS, and complex chronic conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis.

It’s predicted that in the next 5 to 8 years, specialty drugs will represent approximately 40% of all pharmacy benefits spend. Not only are drugs in this category very expensive but they are also being produced for a rising number of complex and chronic conditions, with a very robust pipeline.

The Midwest Business Group on Health (an NBCH sister coalition) is conducting an employer research project focused on helping employers better understand and manage this challenging benefit, and learn which approaches to benefit plan design and vendor management and contracting are optimal for their organization and employee population.

MBGH will do its best to pull out a report specific to the employers who completed the survey based on the state they indicate they are located. Regardless, all coalitions who participate will receive a copy of the final report.

The survey completion deadline is Monday, October 8th. Respondents who provide their contact information will receive a copy of the survey results. Respondents who complete the entire survey will be eligible to win one of five $100 gift cards!

Click on this link to complete the survey: Specialty Pharmacy Survey  (Please note, there are TWO PAGES to the survey and it’s important that you complete ALL of the questions.)

KPMG Survey: Is Health Care In Denial About Pay-For-Performance?

Health care stakeholders offer contradictory notions of the direction of their business. Most believe current business models are sustainable even though economic and legislative trends point in a different direction, according to a recent KPMG survey.

Asked about the sustainability of their industry’s current business model over the next five years, the largest group of respondents from each group answered “somewhat sustainable” from five possible answers ranging from “extremely sustainable” to “not sustainable.” Fifty-three percent of payers’ representatives, 43 percent of pharmaceutical companies’ and 40 percent of providers’ answered similarly.

The findings suggest that many healthcare organizations are working to sustain the volume-driven status quo despite a shift in healthcare toward pay for performance, according to Ed Giniat, KPGM’s health care and pharmaceuticals national sector leader. The most successful will recognize that times are changing.

Based on these results, researchers concluded that health care organizations from all sectors should develop short-term models in anticipation of revenue transformation and execute partnerships across sectors.

The KPMG survey was conducted between January-June 2012 and reflects responses from 104 health care system executives, 51 health plans executives and 54 pharmaceutical executives at leading organizations in the U.S. A webcast on the findings from the survey is available via the KPMG Healthcare & Pharmaceutical Institute (HPI). The KPMG Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Institute is a forum for healthcare business leaders to gain insight into emerging issues, consider approaches to help balance risk and controls and improve performance, and further explore the accelerating transformation within the health care industry, both domestically and globally.

CHVI conducting survey on value-based outcomes-focused design

For five years the Center for Health Value Innovation (CHVI) has been surveying employers, consultants and health plans to track the trends in value-based designs, adding to the shared intelligence that moves organizations and communities toward better health.

This year the focus has been expanded to include outcomes-based contracting as bundling and performance reimbursements take hold. CHVI's survey explores various insurance plan designs and delivery system reimbursements, plus the incentives and disincentives for patients and providers.

To participate in the survey please go to http://surveymonkey.com/s/value-based

To protect privacy, data will only be revealed in the aggregate, and no personally identifying health information is being sought.

The questionnaire will take no more than 10 minutes to complete. All participants who provide e-mail addresses will receive a complimentary copy of the survey results (estimated December 2012).

Participate in employer survey on reform/complying with ACA

The Midwest Business Group on Health in conjunction with the Benfield Group is conducting a survey of employers from around the country to gather benchmarking information on what businesses are planning to do now that the Supreme Court has made its decision upholding the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

To complete this 10-minute survey, go to: Benchmarking Employer Actions After the Supreme Court Decision.

The deadline is Friday, August 17. Those responding will receive a comprehensive summary of key findings. No individual company information will be released.

NBCH member coalitions are invited to have their employer members complete the survey and results will be provided to those organizations that have more than 20 responding employers for their state.

For questions or additional information, contact Larry Boress at lboress@mbgh.org.

Deloitte Survey: Employers concerned about health care costs, unaware of solutions

Deloitte has released its 2012 survey of U.S. employers opinions about the U.S. health care system, ACA, and plans for employee health benefits.

Key findings in Deloitte’s 2012 survey of employers with 50+ workers offering health benefits include: U.S. employers are concerned about continued rising health care costs; however, they are unaware of solutions that could improve the safety and quality of care, and simultaneously reduce cost. While employer-sponsored health benefits are not likely to disappear, changes that shift financial risk to employees are certain.

Additional details and the opportunity to download the full report can be found here.

DMEC Behaviorial Risk & Wellness Survey of Employers

To better understand the trends and best practices in the area of Behavioral Risk Management, the American Psychiatric Foundation's Partnership for Workplace Mental Health and the Disability Management Employer Coalition (DMEC) are requesting the participation of employers in a brief survey to explore the developing expertise, trends and best practices in the area of behavioral risk and wellness management.

Employer members of DMEC, Partnership for Workplace Mental Health (APF), Mid-America Coalition on Health Care, Center for Health Value Innovation and the Midwest Business Group on Health (MBGH) are joining as research partners in order to generate a broader field and larger number of survey participants.

At the conclusion of the survey (March 19), a $10 Starbuck’s gift card will be awarded to the first 100 respondents. All survey participants shall also receive a copy of the final results upon request.

Please go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/G8HGCF8 to participate in the survey.