Health Care Reform Added 20 Million Adults to Coverage Rolls
Original post businessinsurance.com
More than 20 million adult Americans have gained health insurance coverage due to the health care reform law, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in a report released Thursday.
“Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, 20 million Americans have gained health care coverage. We have seen progress in the last six years that the country has sought for generations,” HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell said in a statement.
The HHS report noted that coverage gains varied widely by race and ethnicity. For example, among white non-Hispanic adults, the uninsured rate as of Feb. 22 was 7%, down from 14.3% as of Oct. 1, 2013, while during the same period the uninsured rate among black non-Hispanic adults declined to 10.6% from 22.4%, and among Hispanic adults to 30.5% from 41.8%.
Several health care reform law provisions are credited with the gains in coverage, including those that authorized federal premium subsidies to lower-income individuals obtaining coverage in ACA-authorized exchanges and others that expanded Medicaid eligibility and required group health care plans to extend coverage to employees' adult children until they turn 26.
Prior to that last change, employers typically ended coverage for employees' children at age 18 or 19, or 23 or 24 if a full-time college student.
Bill Would Allow Medicare-Eligible Retirees to Keep HSA Contributions
Original post businessinsurance.com
Health savings accounts are surging in popularity — and that can lead to some complications for older workers who enroll in Medicare.
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are offered to workers enrolled in high-deductible health insurance plans. The accounts are used primarily to meet deductible costs; employers often contribute and workers can make pretax contributions up to $3,350 for individuals, and $5,640 for families; the dollars can be invested and later spent tax-free to meet healthcare expenses.
Twenty-four percent of U.S. workers were enrolled in high-deductible health plans last year, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation - and 15% of them were in plans coupled with an HSA. That compares with 6% using HSA-linked plans as recently as 2010. Assets in HSA accounts rose 25% last year, and the number of accounts rose 22%, according to a report by Devenir, an HSA investment adviser and consulting firm.
But as more employees work past traditional retirement age, some sticky issues arise for HSA account holders tied to enrollment in Medicare. The key issue: HSAs can only be used alongside qualified high-deductible health insurance plans. The minimum deductible allowed for HSA-qualified accounts this year is $1,300 for individual coverage ($2,600 for family coverage). Medicare is not considered a high-deductible plan, although the Part A deductible this year is $1,288 (for Part B, it is $166).
That means that if a worker - or a spouse covered on the employer's plan - signs up for Medicare coverage, the worker must stop contributing to the HSA, although withdrawals can continue.
The normal enrollment age for Medicare is 65, but people who are still working at that point often stay on the health plans of their employers (more on that below). In certain situations, the worker or a retired spouse might enroll for some Medicare benefits. Moreover, if the worker or spouse claims Social Security, that can trigger an automatic enrollment in Medicare Part A and B.
That would require the worker to stop contributing to the HSA - and the contributions actually would need to stop six months before that Social Security claim occurs. That is because Medicare Part A is retroactive for up to six months, assuming the enrollee was eligible for coverage during those months. Failing to do that can lead to a tax penalty.
"The Medicare problem is a basic flaw in the way HSAs are designed," said Jody Dietel, chief compliance officer of WageWorks Inc, a provider of HSA and other consumer-directed benefit plans to employers.
Recognizing the problem, U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch and Representative Erik Paulsen proposed legislation last month that would allow HSA-eligible seniors enrolled in Medicare Part A (only) to continue to contribute to their HSAs.
The HSA complication is bound to arise more often as the huge baby boom generation retires, and as high-deductible insurance linked to HSA accounts continues to gain popularity among employers. High-deductible plans come with lower premiums - the average premium for individual coverage in a high-deductible health plan coupled with a savings option last year was $5,567 (the employee share was $868), KFF reports. By contrast, the comparable average premium for a preferred provider organization was $6,575 (with workers contributing $1,145).
Some experts also pitch HSAs as a tax-advantaged way to save to meet healthcare costs in retirement - although the HSA's main purpose is to help people meet current-year deductible costs, and employers often make an annual contribution for that purpose.
So far, there is not much evidence that large accumulations are building in the accounts. The average account total balance last year was $14,035, according to Devenir. The limits on contributions are one reason for that.
Deciding to delay a Medicare enrollment depends on your individual circumstances.
If you work for an employer with fewer than 20 workers, Medicare usually is the primary insurer at age 65, so failing to sign up would mean losing much of your coverage - hardly worth the tax advantage of continued HSA contributions. If you work for a larger employer, Medicare coverage is secondary, so a delayed Medicare filing is more feasible - so long as you or a spouse are not enrolled in Social Security. (Also make sure that the account in question is an HSA and not a Health Reimbursement Account - the latter is not a savings account and does not bring the Medicare enrollment problem into play.)
"We usually advise people to talk it over with a tax expert - it's more of a tax issue than a health insurance question," said Casey Schwarz, senior counsel for education and federal policy at the Medicare Rights Center, a nonprofit advocacy and consumer rights group.
Percent of Plans Offering HRA/HSA Option Plummet
Original post benefitspro.com
A study of some 10,000 employer sponsored plans by United Benefit Advisors of health plans revealed that about 24 percent of all health plans offered either an HSA or HRA component — a 29 percent decrease in the number of health plans nationally. That drop indicates that plan designers and health plan sponsors are still out of sync on the value of these accounts.
“Faulty plan design, in some instances, has led to smaller pricing gaps between traditional plans and HSA compatible plans,” says Steve Salinas, benefits advisor at Bridgeport Benefits, a California-based UBA Partner Firm. “Many insurers have added stipulations to their contracts disallowing employer-funded accounts in the presence of a high deductible plan.”
UBA’s data supports the overview that “enrollment and contributions to these account-based plans varied wildly based on employer size, industry, and region.”
It offered a large employer/small employer illustration of this near-chaotic situation. “While large employers typically offer the lowest contributions to account-based plans, companies with 200 to 1,000+ employees saw the most dramatic increases in enrollment, ranging from 50 to 90 percent over the last three years.”
In some respects, plan designers and consumers in California may be closer to figuring out how to design plans with HRAs and HSAs that strike a balance between the objectives of all three parties. California offers the best HRA and HSA plans for singles and families.
- California leads the country with the highest HRA contributions for singles, which average $2,288;
- California is the only region in the country that increased contributions over the last three years, making them the most generous in the nation by contributing $981 to singles and $1,789 to families;
- Families in California receive the second highest average family contribution to HRAs at $3,950, a 13 percent decrease from three years ago when they led the nation at $4,537;
- The average employer contribution to an HSA was $491 for a single employee and $882 for a family.
“In California, health insurance costs are so high that employees very often gravitate to the lowest cost options, typically the HSA-compatible high deductible plans,” says Keith McNeil, benefits advisor at Arrow Benefits Group in California, a UBA Partner Firm. “HRAs have been under health plan scrutiny due to the trend of self-insuring the high deductible through an HRA, which the health plan believes raises the cost of their plans. They have threatened penalties for non-compliance. So in the small group market, it has been much easier to simply offer HSA compatible plans and include the HSA as an option to members.”
“Large employers (1,000+ employees) have not typically offered competitive HRA or HSA plans because they are able to offer other types of more generous plans,” says Les McPhearson, CEO of UBA. “But this is the sector to watch: If they see the kind of double-digit cost increases other employer groups already have, they may have no choice but to offer more attractive HRA and HSA plans in an effort to control costs.”
Flexible Work Schedule Doesn't Hurt Productivity
Original post benefitspro.com
Schedule flexibility should not be perceived as a gift to employees, suggests a new study. If it were, the employer would be giving up something, presumably employee productivity.
But an increasing body of research indicates that flexible workplaces are no worse for wear than others with stricter schedules.
The most recent study, published this month by Phyllis Moen, a sociology professor at the University of Minnesota, analyzed the effect that flexible work policies have on IT workers at a major firm.
Half of the 867 workers continued working under the company’s existing policy, with standard schedules and exceptions occasionally granted by supervisors.
The other group was given an entirely open-ended schedule, with no restrictions, so long as the employees completed their assigned work. Supervisors were also encouraged to think about ways to reduce work-family conflicts for employees, and were even prompted twice a day reminding them to come up with such ideas.
The study found that those who were granted the additional flexibility were not any less productive than those who labored under the traditional schedule. Those with the flexible schedules also reported being much happier because of the reduced stress of trying to make time to pick up kids and other typical work-family conflicts.
The study prompted a major feature story in the New York Times Magazine, “Rethinking the Work-Life Equation,” which profiled the growing ranks of experts in favor of flexible scheduling. Employers are under increased pressure to help their workers strike a work-life balance because of shifting gender roles, as more and more married couples commit themselves to both career advancement and child-rearing.
Even employers that are generous to employees seeking schedule flexibility may not produce the same level of stress-reduction as a policy that explicitly grants unlimited flexibility.
‘‘What people told us, over and over again, was that the new policy removed the guilt,’’ Erin Kelly, an MIT professor who collaborated on the study, told the New York Times Magazine. ‘‘We heard that word a lot.’’
Agencies Propose Revised SBC Template and Uniform Glossary
Original post shrm.org
The federal agencies overseeing the Affordable Care Act announced a 30-day comment period ending on March 28, 2016, regarding proposed revisions to the Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) and related documents that employers must provide to eligible employees for each of their health plans, following the Feb. 26 publication of an official notice in the Federal Register.
The revisions could be effective for employer-provided plan years beginning with the second quarter of 2017.
On Feb. 25, the Departments of Labor (DOL), Treasury, and Health and Human Services (HHS) released the proposed revised SBC template and revised uniform glossary, along with revised instructions for group plans. Under the Affordable Care Act, SBCs and the uniform glossary must be given to new hires and to employees during open enrollment.
The agencies had issued a final rule regarding SBCs and related documents in June 2015. However, revisions to the SBC template and the uniform glossary were delayed to allow the agencies to complete consumer testing and receive additional input from the public and stakeholders.
Providing Plan Details
In an analysis posted at the Health Affairs Blog, Timothy Jost, a professor at the Washington and Lee University School of Law in Lexington, VA., noted that among the proposed changes the revised documents would:
• Better identify services covered before the deductible applies.
• Disclose whether the plan has “embedded” deductibles and out-of-pocket limits (under which enrollees in family coverage can meet individual deductibles or out-of-pocket limits before the family limits are met).
• Disclose more information on tiered networks in relation to coverage of common medical events.
Though it may not provide the clarity employers and employees are looking for, "on the whole, the proposed revised SBC is a distinct improvement over the current SBC,” commented Jost.
Enrollment in vision plans remains high
Original post benefitsnews.com
Employers hoping to attract and retain employees need not look further than their vision benefit offerings. New research shows vision benefits have high engagement with employees, but some experts say employers need to work closer with advisers to build the benefit plan workers are seeking.
According to the 2016 annual Employee Perceptions of Vision Benefits survey conducted by Wakefield Research on behalf of Transitions Optical, eight in 10 people chose to enroll in employer-sponsored vision plans. It’s the only benefit to experience a year-over-year increase, the survey found, adding that some benefits such as life, dental and 401(k) plans saw a slight decrease in enrollment compared with 2015.
As more millennials enter the workforce, ancillary benefits such as vision may be considered a more immediate need than retirement plans or some medical benefits, Jonathan Ormsby, strategic account manager with Transitions Optical suggests.
“A competitive benefits package is a significant consideration and draw for workers,” he he says. “Nearly a third of survey respondents said they have, or know somebody, who has accepted a job in the last year because it offered a competitive benefits package – and one in five note that vision is the most appealing element of the package.”
The survey also found employees are increasingly making demands of their employers in terms of what options the vision plans cover. Forty-one percent say it is very important and 46% say it is somewhat important to have premium materials covered, including impact resistant polycarbonate lenses, photochromic lenses, anti-reflective treatment and others.
A desire for broader choice is also affecting the vision market, according to Srikanth Lakshminarayanan, senior director for the Center of Excellence at HGS Healthcare, which provides business process management and end-to-end services for healthcare payers and provider organizations.
“What we now hear from the customer is that they want a choice of options to be much broader,” he says. “They don’t want to be tied up to a particular vision care company” in order to obtain group discounts.
Education
“I think education is the top priority and one strategy we recommend for that is better collaboration between advisers and employers,” notes Ormsby.
For example, he says, “Advisers need to better educate employers on the materials especially the frames and lenses side of the benefits.”
Eighty-seven percent of employees say having premium material coverage is important when selecting their vision plan but more than a quarter are uninformed about the lenses covered by their vision plan, Ormsby says.
“So plenty of room for education,” he says.
Education should be a year-round initiative, he adds, something advisers should think about when working with employers. The survey found 29% of respondents felt a vision plan’s website was the most valuable resource in helping understand benefits, while 26% felt the benefits provider was valuable.
3 Ways to Boost Employee Health with On-Site Wellness Program Support
Original post benefitspro.com
When employers launch a robust employee health program, too often corporate wellness becomes another job for someone who already has a full range of responsibilities.
That’s why it’s crucial to have someone “on the ground” who owns health and wellness and can in turn play an active role in building a successful health management program.
We see the benefits of providing an on-site wellness presence. Our client sites that have a dedicated on-site program manager enjoy a 33 percent higher participation rate compared to similar programs that don’t include an on-site manager.
The benefits of having an on-site wellness program manager include the following:
- Screening participation: 58 percent increase
- Health advising participation: 43 percent increase
- Coaching enrollment participation: 21 percent increase
In addition to on-site program managers, here are three ways our clients inspire employee wellness with on-site solutions—and how this option might make sense for your organization.
1. Drive engagement with health advocates
To meet the needs of more than 12,000 employees in 18 locations at a leading automotive parts manufacturer, my employer HealthFitness provides six on-site health promotion coordinators and eight full-time benefits advocates to help employees and their families navigate the health care system.
On-site advocates serve as corporate wellness navigators and answer questions employees may have related to their benefits—from how the medical plan works to how to earn incentives.
Advocates work as a touch point for employees—whether they meet before, after or during shift breaks.
Results:
Support from on-site benefit advocates has paid off in providing real results for both employees and the company.
- 48,000 benefit advocacy contacts driving referrals to benefit providers
- 6.2 percent year-over-year reduction in health risks
- 93 percent completion rate of health assessments and screening for employees and spouses
2. Activate boots on the ground
To build rapport with the manufacturing population at a leading producer of agricultural products, our on-site staff regularly meets employees where they are—donning steel-toe boots and protective gear to join them in the field, safety meetings, or break rooms.
Our on-site presence lets them know we are here for them and are committed to their health.
For example, to make it easier for employees to participate in wellness activities such as screenings, on-site staff are scheduled to work early hours (from 4 a.m. to 12 p.m.), giving workers the opportunity to participate in blood pressure screenings without leaving the worksite.
The mindset of ‘we bring the program to you’ is essential to program participation success.
Results:
- 11.3 percent decrease in average number of high health risks from 22.47 to 2.19 among 2,400 participants.
- 97 percent of participants were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their on-site biometric screening event.
- 63 percent of employees participated in one or more lifestyle management programs in 2013.
3. Build a network of on-site wellness champions
Our on-site program manager leverages a wellness champion network of more than 30 employees to meet the needs of 12,000 employees at an agricultural and construction equipment leader.
Wellness champions build employee awareness and increase engagement in corporate wellness programs.
Employees at 20 sites throughout the country turn to the wellness champions as a resource, to share ideas and ask questions. Wellness champions also represent employees during ongoing conference calls and help ensure health and wellness continues to be part of their daily routines.
Results:
- 85.3 percent of the employee population has participated in at least one health management activity.
- 43.1 percent participation in a walking program that challenges employees to walk 10,000 steps a day.
- 21.1 percent participation in health coaching so employees can develop an individual, confidential plan to help them reach their health goals.
‘Where’s My 1095?’ Addressing Tax Filing Confusion
Many employees are confused over how to report that they received health coverage when filing their income tax returns this tax season, the first in which they’re required to affirm that they had Affordable Care Act (ACA)-compliant coverage throughout the year or risk penalties under the individual coverage mandate.
Much of this confusion involves Form 1095-B (Health Coverage) and Form 1095-C (Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage).
“There are two different 1095 forms that an employee or former employee might get, depending on how coverage was provided,” explained Mike Chittenden, a counsel at Miller & Chevalier in Washington, D.C. “If it’s fully insured coverage from a large employer”—with 50 or more full-time employees or equivalents, refered to as an applicable large employer (ALE)—“then they’ll receive a Form 1095-C from their employer and a Form 1095-B from the insurance company. If it’s self-insured coverage from an employer, they’ll just receive a 1095-C that combines the information that would otherwise appear on both forms.”
These forms are also filed with the IRS by large employers; Forms 1094-B and 1094-C are transmittal forms submitted to the IRS along with Forms 1095-B and 1095-C, respectively.
For small businesses with fewer than 50 full-time employers or equivalents that provide employees with an ACA-compliant group plan, the rules are a bit different. If fully insured (as most small companies are), the insurance company that provides coverage is required to send enrollees a copy of Form 1095-B and to submit Forms 1995-B (along with transmittal Form 1094-B) to the IRS in order to report minimum essential coverage.
If a small company is self-insured and provides coverage, it must provide employees and the IRS with Form 1095-B. But small business that offer insurance are not required to send Form 1095-Cs to employees or to the IRS.
| Fewer than 50 full-time employees/equivalents (non-ALEs) | 50 or more full-time employees/equivalents (ALEs) | |
| No coverage offered | Not subject to reporting | |
| Fully insured plan | Insurance company completes Forms 1094-B and 1095-B | Employer completes Forms 1094-C and 1095-C (Parts l and ll only) |
| Self-insured plan | Employer completes Forms 1094-B and 1095-B | Employer completes Forms 1094-C and 1095-C (Parts l, ll and lll) |
Originally, these forms were intended to be given to employees or former employees by Feb. 1 (as Jan. 31 fell on a Sunday this year), along with Form W-2. Filers would then use them when completing Line 61 of their individual tax returns, showing that they had qualifying health coverage from their employer—referred to as minimum essential coverage—during the year. The form could be shared with tax preparers and retained with other tax documents.
But as many employers seemed unlikely to meet this deadline, the IRS issued Notice 2016-4 at the end of 2015, extending the due date for providing employees with Forms 1095-B and 1095-C until March 31, and extended other ACA reporting deadlines as well:
| Forms | Previous IRS Due Date | New IRS Due Date |
| Forms 1095-B and 1095-C due to employees. | Feb. 1, 2016 | March 31, 2016 |
| Forms 1094-B, 1095-B, 1094-C and 1095-C to be filed with the IRS if filing on paper (fewer than 250 employees). | Feb. 29, 2016 | May 31, 2016 |
| Forms 1094-B, 1095-B, 1094-C and 1095-C to be filed with the IRS if filing electronically. | March 31, 2016 | June 30, 2016 |
| Source: ADP, based on IRS Notice 2016-4 and IRS Tax Tip 2016-27. | ||
Tax Filing Conundrum
The problem is that many employees had been told that they would need these forms to prepare their 2015 income taxes. Many even believed, incorrectly, that Form 1095s were to be filed with their tax returns, along with their Form W-2s.
To mitigate these concerns, in January the IRS updated its webpage with Questions and Answers about Health Care Information Forms for Individuals. In Q&A number 3, the IRS answers the question, “Must I wait to file until I receive these forms?” as follows:
If you are expecting to receive a Form 1095-A [for those enrolled in a nongroup plan through the ACA’s Health Insurance Marketplace], you should wait to file your 2015 income tax return until you receive that form. However, it is not necessary to wait for Forms 1095-B or 1095-C in order to file.
Some taxpayers may not receive a Form 1095-B or Form 1095-C by the time they are ready to file their 2015 tax return. While the information on these forms may assist in preparing a return, they are not required. Individual taxpayers will generally not be affected by this extension and should file their returns as they normally would.
Like last year, taxpayers can prepare and file their returns using other information about their health insurance. You should not attach any of these forms to your tax return.
But employees don’t typically read the latest IRS updates posted online. Employers, therefore, should inform workers to expect these forms by March 31, and assure them they may go ahead and file their taxes—and collect any refunds that may be coming their way—without waiting until the form is in their hands.
Filing Without Form 1095
“While the form is helpful, obviously, in that it gives you all the information you need in one place, most employees won’t need the form to complete their taxes,” Chittenden explained. “For example, if an employee worked for the same company and had coverage all year, then they can go ahead and complete their taxes and check the box that indicates coverage all year. Similarly, if they changed jobs but had coverage under their old and their new employer without a gap, they also can check the box saying ‘yes.’ You don’t have to attach a copy of the form to your return, whether you’re filing paper returns or filing electronically. So you don’t actually need Form 1095-B or Form 1095-C to complete your tax return.”
Given the deadline extension for providing these forms, “employees should be reassured that they don’t need them to complete their taxes, and employers should be telling them that,” Chittenden said.
Employers should also be prepared for questions when employees do receive their 1095s in March. Many who have already submitted their returns may worry that having done so without the form will require filing a corrected return.
Ask HR
If employees think they might have had a gap in health coverage but aren’t sure, they still don’t necessarily need the form. “They could look at their pay stubs to see if they include information about coverage—for example, if there are deductions in each month for coverage, then it’s a pretty safe bet that they probably had coverage in each month,” said Chittenden. “They can also go to the employer and ask HR, which can give them the answer about whether or not they had coverage.”
ACA reporting has been a challenge for many employers, and “they’re doing their best to get these forms out as quickly as they can,” said Chittenden. Due to the rush, “employees may subsequently receive corrected forms, if the employer determines later that they were inaccurate, so that’s something they should be aware may be coming. And employers should be aware that they have an obligation to correct incorrect forms.”
Penalties Reduced If Timely Correction Made
The penalty for not filing an information return with the IRS generally is $250 for each return. The penalty for providing an incorrect statement to employees/enrollees is $250 for each erroneous statement. Since there are separate penalties for returns filed with the IRS and for statements furnished to individuals, filing failures could easily result in “double” penalties.
The IRS has provided short-term relief from reporting penalties for 2015 filings, as long as the employer has made a good faith effort to comply with the reporting requirements, and has filed returns and provided statements on time. However, even employers that were late might be eligible for penalty relief if the IRS determines there was reasonable cause,
4 Ways to Talk to Employees So They Listen
Original post entrepreneur.com
No one likes to be lectured in the workplace.
As a leader, you need to communicate with your employees to deliver strategic direction, reinforce corporate culture and rally the troops to achieve company goals and objectives. To be effective, you need to deliver these messages in a way that creates energy and enthusiasm, rather than deflating your team.
Here are four tips for talking to employees in a way that energizes them rather than depleting them:
1. Use humor. No matter how big or small your operation may be, there is often tension and emotional distance between the boss and employees. To diffuse that, I regularly use humor, a tactic that makes me more approachable. In my experience, the best kind is self-deprecating humor. When I showed up to meet new employees for the first time at a Midwest location, I started the conversations by poking fun at my pronounced "New Yawk" accent. It got a laugh and made me seem more accessible.
2. Ask open-ended questions. And then be quiet. My favorite question to ask is “Tell me about [insert topic here].” When you ask a new employee about his ideas or a technologist about a new device, you are asking them to do more than give you a pat sentence or two in response. You have the opportunity to access that person’s deep knowledge and passion. Ask a question that opens the conversation wide and then hold still and listen.
3. Bring others into the conversation. A boss-employee conversation may seem casual to the boss but can feel like an interrogation to the employee. To diffuse this situation, I like to bring others into the conversation to even out the experience. I may turn a one-on-one discussion into a larger conversation by inviting people to join us and share their thoughts and experiences. It benefits me, because I get to hear more voices, and it helps put everyone else at ease.
4. Let the little stuff slide. If you are the kind of hands-on person who helped build the business from the ground up, you probably have insight or advice on everything from the capital budget to color of the carpet. But you don’t have to communicate every thought to the staff. If it’s not an important critique, let it go. I visited a flower shop in my company once and noticed the manager was not lining the trashcans with plastic bags. I know from experience that liners make the job easier, but I also know that I don’t need to communicate every idea that comes into my head. It just creates a climate of nitpicking.
Conversations that take place up and down the food chain – between supervisor and staff, people of different departments and the boss and the new employee – are often the source of great new ideas.
As the boss, it’s your job to get those conversations started and keep them going. You have a chance to make that happen (or achieve the opposite) every time you open your mouth.
Top healthcare benefit trends to watch
Original post benefitsnews.com
The number of employers offering a healthy living/incentive program grew in 2015, and is one of several trends to watch as the year 2016 unfolds, analysts say.
Plan design changes and programs such as incentive and wellness were of increasing interest to employers last year and most “continue to turn to their brokers and consultants to learn more about new health plan benefit designs and distribution models,” says Tiffany Wirth, executive director of the Healthcare Trends Institute.
“Helping employees better understand the value of provided benefits and making cost-conscious benefit decisions continues to remain important to employers,” she says.
The number of employers offering a healthy living/incentive program grew from 29.8% in 2014 to 34.6% in 2015, according to the HTI’s 2015 Healthcare Benefit Trends Benchmark Study.
During a webinar unveiling the results, Wirth said 21.8% of employers are considering such a program and 16.7% are still learning about them. About 1 in 4 employers (24.7%) indicated they weren’t interested in offering such a program.
“We’re starting to see these types of programs take hold as [healthcare] reform is being adopted and companies are pushing employees to understand their decisions, their purchases, and all of the different things that go along with healthcare benefits,” she says.
As part of incentive program tracking, HTI has also been examining what sort of wellness programs companies are implementing, Wirth says.
Almost half (44.6%) offer at least one type of wellness program, the survey found. Thirty-one percent offer biometric screenings and about 30% offer an opportunity for health risk management.
Key differences from the 2014 benchmark study, Wirth says, included the ranking of top benefits offered by employers. The three highest company-offered employee benefits in 2014 (PPO, family plan and prescription drug) continued to rank high in 2015, but dental came in at No. 1 this year, with about 74% of employers offering it.
More than half (52.1%) of respondents said they had some familiarity with defined contribution plans and private exchanges, with the majority of those who indicated they were interested in offering a DCP identifying 2017 as the year they would likely do so.
Wirth says continued interest is growing among employers to learn and understand more about DCPS.