Survey Finds Employers regional health costs up 7.2%

 

Friday, Mar 27,2009, 2:08:55 PM   Click:

Mar. 26 - Employers have increased health care costs 7.2 percent in the Pittsburgh area during 2008-09 - the first time in five years, the increase has not been lower than in recent years Previous - according to a poll released today.

Cowden Associates Inc annual Employee Benefits Survey companies continue to rely on increasing employee contributions as the best strategy to contain costs.

Even so, employers were found in May to push the limit on costs to workers, "said Cowden Executive Vice President Vince Wolf.

"It was a little surprise ... that the renewal was made to increase the previous year," says Wolf. "And the other surprise is that cost sharing has been relatively stable, and continues to be about 20 percent and 25 percent for family coverage. "

This year, Cowden survey was based on responses from 230 for-profit and nonprofit businesses, government and employers, mainly in western Pennsylvania, but also in West Virginia and Ohio. Respondents were a mixture of Cowden clients and non-customers.

"I think the Cowden survey results are quite consistent with what I expected," said David Lagnese, a principal in the Pittsburgh office of benefits consultant Towers Perrin.

The investigation revealed that in all three states, the average cost of each coverage rose $ 204 per employee, or 4.6 percent, to an average annual cost of $ 4644. The average cost for family coverage increased by $ 744 per employee, or 6 percent, to an average annual cost of $ 13,248.

With employees paid on an average coverage of $ 78 per month for coverage, while workers with families on average $ 282 per month towards premiums.

The three states region remains a stronghold for employers who pay 100 percent of their employees insurance premiums, the survey revealed Cowden.

Over 17 percent of respondents still retrieve all of the premium costs for their workers, compared to 11.7 per cent of employers in the country.


Emerging trends of proved two years ago on the mark in the last survey, according to Wolf. Employers continue to build on the awareness of employees and so-called welfare programs as ways to keep health care costs. Incentives, including cash and gift cards are used to encourage workers to become more involved with the well-being.

"We are beginning to see what I call the next generation of welfare programs," says Wolf. "Use of the health well-being of coaches (used by 28.3 per cent of survey participants) shows employers are somewhat more aggressive with their welfare programs."

The survey participants agreed that next year, health insurance premiums will rise an average 9.1 per cent, Wolf said there are a number of factors will certainly play a key role in guiding price head.

"All the laws of the State and Federal Governments that are to come will be the addition of health care costs," says Wolf. "At the state level, Act 62, which transfers the costs of autism coverage in employer plans for Medicaid, will have an impact on prices. And at the federal level, you have COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act), and new laws on mental health can have a significant impact on costs. "

COBRA allows an employee who leaves a company to be covered by the health of the company for a time and under certain conditions.

Pushing back against price increases should the Obama administration plans to reform health care, "said Wolf. He said there is a precedent in the shadow of the reform have a positive impact on price increases.

"Look at the rate of evolution of prices during the Clinton administration," says Wolf. "In 1996, the trends are almost zero increases, with the threat of a major reform of the conduct in force increases .

But once HillaryCare fizzled and with it the threat of a genuine reform of health care cost increases returned, "said Wolf. "In 2000, we were double-digit annual increases.