Company leaders are grappling with how to deal with the rising cost of health insurance in ways that get beyond the longtime strategy of simply passing on more of the burden to workers, The Wall Street Journal reports.
“The CEOs of our clients are more involved in the health-care benefits program than I’ve seen in 25 years,” says Jim Winkler, a senior vice president at consulting firm Aon PLC. “It’s, ‘What are we spending our money on, and does it make sense?’”
Employers have relied on the high-deductible plans, which force employees to pay more out of their pockets for care, to help rein in the cost of insurance.
Now there are signs that some companies are tapping the brakes on deductibles. A survey by the National Business Group on Health this year found that the share of employers planning to offer only high-deductible health plans was set to drop by 9 percentage points next year, to 30%. That came after increases each of the previous six years.
There are a number of strategies in play. Some organizations are bypassing insurers and negotiating deals with hospitals directly. A growing number are offering their own clinics. And some are launching new efforts to change how they pay for drugs, an area that has left many employers frustrated in the past.
