Survey: Large companies planning more health cost-shifting to employees

A survey of 1,230 large employers found that companies plan to continue to shift costs to employees, at least in the short term (Source: “In Short-Term, Expect More Cost-Shifting to Patients,” Health Data Management, June 11, 2014).

The employer survey, conducted by insurance broker Aon Hewitt, found that 42 percent of large employers are considering offering high-deductible health plans as a full replacement for the health benefit program, compared with 15 percent doing so today. Nearly three-quarters of responding employers are or will be reducing subsidies for dependents, and 52 percent expect to shift to “unitized” pricing where employees pay for family health care on a per-person basis instead of a family rate. Only 5 percent of surveyed employers use unitized pricing today.

In further efforts to encourage more engagement from employees, 24 percent of employers plan to give employees tools to guide them in benefit plan selection and utilization, up from 19 percent today. Ninety-two percent expect to offer cost transparency tools, compared with 49 percent now.