Many Firms to Lower Health Care Cost Increases through Education

Most employers say they will rely on wellness programs to curb rising health care costs rather than burden workers with higher deductibles and co-pays, according to a new report by PricewaterhouseCooper.

According to the report, “Behind the Numbers: Medical Cost Trends for 2009,” employer health care costs are expected to rise 9.6 percent in 2009, compared with a 9.9 percent increase this year. But only 38 percent of employers expect to increase costs by redesigning their health care plans, Pricewaterhouse said. That bucks past trends where most employers passed along more or most of the cost increases to employees.

Experts say employer mandates in recent years that employees foot more of their own medical expenses have led to more self-pay medical accounts and consequently more medical bad debt.
Pricewaterhouse said employers will rely on prevention and disease management programs to curb costs in 2009, particularly high-cost patients. Two-thirds of employers say they already contract with disease management programs that focus on reducing and eliminating hospitalizations. These third parties proactively communicate preventative medicine ideas with the employee.

The approach is showing some success, according to Pricewaterhouse. For example, the number of cardiac procedures is dropping primarily because employees are taking their prescribed medications and following discharge recommendations.

“Wellness programs aren’t merely a cost reduction tactic,” Pricewaterhouse said in the report. “Employers and these initiatives were nearly equally effective at boosting productivity, improving employee loyalty and demonstrating corporate responsibility.”