Employees Feeling Brunt of Health-Care Increases

IOMA’s 2001 Managing Benefits Plans Cost Control Survey of benefits professoinalsshows that the most popular strategy in the face of rising health-care premiumsis still sharing costs with the employees. While most companies use a varietyof techniques to manage costs, 51.7 percent said cost sharing was the most successfuloption. The survey, which is conducted annually, includes responses from morethan 200 participants at primarily small and mid-sized companies nationwide.More results from that report are listed below:

Most Successful Cost-ControlStrategy

GrandTotal Upto 500 employees Over500 employees Increased costsharing by employees: 51.7% 44.9% 57.9% Adopted a mail-orderprescription drug program: 22.0% 22.4% 21.5% Set up flexiblespending accounts: 20.0% 26.5% 14.0% Shopped for atraditional plan with managed care or PPO: 20.0% 20.4% 19.6% Self-insured: 17.6% 15.3% 19.6% Added voluntarybenefits options: 15.1% 16.3% 14.0% Automated yourbenefits functions: 13.2% 4.1% 21.5% Started a wellnessprogram: 10.2% 11.2% 9.3% Offered a cafeteria-styleflexible benefits plan: 7.3% 11.2% 3.7% Added a POS (point-of-service)plan: 7.3% 8.2% 6.5% Replaced yourtraditional plan with an HMO: 6.8% 8.2% 5.6% Cut benefit offerings: 6.3% 6.1% 6.5% Replaced a definedbenefit plan with 401(k): 5.9% 7.1% 4.7% Instituted a managedmental health care program: 4.9% 4.1% 5.6% Purchased healthinsurance through business group/coalition: 5.9% 7.1% 4.7% Used carve-outmental health and drug dependency care: 1.0% 0.0% 1.9% Eliminated mentalhealth and drug dependency care: 0.5% 0.0% 0.9% Directly contractedwith area hospitals: 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Other: 22.0% 17.3% 26.2%