Health Plan Costs To Remain High in 2010

A survey conducted last spring by The Segal Company indicates that health plan costs will remain high in 2010. Employers are adopting four main strategies to reduce healthcare costs. These strategies, in the words of The Segal Company, are as follows:

• Monitoring wellness/disease management programs and tying program results to financial rewards and penalties for individual employees;
• Eliminating or reducing insurance coverage for certain brand-name drugs, reducing copayments for primary care visits, increasing copayments for visits to specialists, and waiving copayments for certain tests such as targeted cancer screenings;
• Asking insurance providers to enforce prior authorization rules and manage step-therapy programs or risk the loss of fees or payments; and
• Relying more on case management and health coaching services to help employees stick to appropriate therapies and avoid future health complications.

Adapted from http://www.employersgroup.com/newsandlegislation/high-healthplan.shtml