Employer health insurance costs under control
The Guardian has reported that corporations are successfully using technology to reduce their overall healthcare expenses, with employer health insurance costs expected to rise only 4.1 per cent in 2019.
The Guardian has reported that corporations are successfully using technology to reduce their overall healthcare expenses, with employer health insurance costs expected to rise only 4.1 per cent in 2019.
Mercer, a health benefits consulting firm, projected this based on a new study of 1,566 employers. In addition, a recently released study by the Associated Press and consulting firm Avalere Health found that most of the Affordable Care Act’s individual marketplaces will also see a steadying of prices next year, with a 3.6-per-cent average increase in proposed or approved premiums across 47 states and Washington DC.
According to the Guardian, this is due to the stabilisation of markers and the improved ability of health insurance companies to determine healthcare premiums. “The improvement in the underlying medical plan trend is encouraging because those savings are not solely coming from shifting cost to employees,” said Tracy Watts, Senior Partner and Mercer’s Leader for Health Reform. “It suggests that there is a ‘quiet revolution’ going on in organisations as they deploy more innovative health benefit strategies – and that these have started to pay off.”
The Mercer report also found that, although it has been common in the past for employers to shift more of the cost of healthcare to their employers, this year they are relying on technology more to help them keep their company’s health costs under control.