WASHINGTON, Aug. 18 /PRNewswire/ — A majority of large U.S. employers are moving forward with plans to make changes to their 2011 health care benefit programs in the wake of both health reform and expected large health benefit cost increases next year, according to a new survey by the National Business Group on Health, a non-profit association of large employers.

The survey found that more than half (53%) of respondents are still planning to make changes to their benefit plans despite the uncertainty that exists around complying with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.  Another two of ten employers (19%) are scaling back changes they planned to make while an equal number are making no changes. The remaining respondents were still undecided pending further review of the final regulations.

Among the employers who will be making specific changes to their health benefit plans to comply with the new law, 70% said they will remove lifetime dollar limits on overall benefits while 37% reported they will make changes to annual or lifetime limits on specific benefits.  About one in four (26%) will remove annual dollar limits on overall benefits while 13% will remove pre-existing condition exclusions for children.  The survey, based on responses from 72 of the nation’s largest corporations representing more than 3.7 million employees, was conducted in May and June, 2010.

“While the health reform law has forced employers to evaluate their health care benefit strategies and decide whether to comply with the law or lose grandfathered status, they haven’t lost sight of the fact that controlling rising costs remains one of, if not, their highest priority. They have to foot the bill, not the government,” said Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health.  “In fact, with cost increases expected to accelerate next year, many of the plan design changes employers are making are being done to help curb those increases, as they have to do every year.”

According to the survey, employers estimate their health care benefit costs will increase an average of 8.9% next year, compared with an average increase of 7% this year.  To help control those increases, employers are planning to use a wider variety of cost-sharing strategies.  The survey found 63% plan to increase the percentage employees contribute to the premium, up from 57% who did so this year, while 46% plan to raise out-of-pocket maximums next year compared with 36% this year.

More Employers Shifting to Full-Replacement Consumer-Directed Health Plans

More than six in ten (61%) employers will offer a consumer-directed health plan (CDHP) in 2011. While the most common type of plan employers will offer is a high-deductible plan combined with a health savings account (64%), the survey found a big spike in employers moving to a full replacement plan.  Among employers offering a CDHP, the number moving to a full replacement plan doubled from 10% this year to 20% in 2011.

“Consumer directed health plans are living up to their expectations as a way to help save employers money and put employees in greater control of their health care.  In fact, offering these plans was the most often-cited tactic by employers to control costs.  We fully expect that employer interest in CDHPs, and especially full-replacement plans, will continue to increase in the future,” said Darling.

Other survey findings include:

With the health reform law making Medicare Part D benefits richer as the “doughnut hole” closes between now and 2020, 5% plan to drop retiree health coverage in 2011 while 60% are considering doing so.

Four in ten (41%) employers offered premium discounts for completing health assessments while 22% offered premium discounts for participating in tobacco cessation programs.

One in four (25%) employers plans to raise the co-pay or co-insurance for retail pharmacy prescription drug benefits while 21% plan to do the same for mail-order pharmacy benefits.

Copies of the survey report can be found at www.businessgrouphealth.org

About the National Business Group on Health

The National Business Group on Health is the nation’s only non-profit organization devoted exclusively to representing large employers’ perspective on national health policy issues and providing practical solutions to its members’ most important health care problems. The Business Group helps drive today’s health agenda while promoting ideas for controlling health care costs, improving patient safety and quality of care and sharing best practices in health benefits management with senior benefits, HR professionals, and medical directors from leading corporations.  Business Group members, which include 64 Fortune 100 companies, provide health coverage for more than 50 million U.S. workers, retirees and their families. For more information, visit www.businessgrouphealth.org.

SOURCE National Business Group on Health

* Several new rules set to take effect in September

By Jon Lentz

WASHINGTON, Aug 18 (Reuters) – Many of the biggest U.S. companies are removing spending limits from their employees’ health plans and taking other steps to comply with the new healthcare law, according to a report released on Wednesday.

Most of the companies surveyed also plan to shift more costs to employees in an effort to rein in rising healthcare spending, according to the report.

The National Business Group on Health based its findings on a survey of 72 of its member companies in May and June. Members include many of the largest U.S. employers, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) and General Electric Co (GE.N), but the report does not say which companies were surveyed.

The debate on healthcare reform, especially over whether it will increase costs for individuals and small businesses, has been a significant component of the November midterm elections in which Democrats are fighting to maintain control of Congress.

The law passed this spring includes several provisions that employer-based health insurance plans will have to abide by once the rules take effect on Sept. 23.

The survey found that 70 percent of the companies will have to eliminate lifetime dollar limits, or a cap on the amount an insurer will pay for covered expenses, while 13 percent will no longer be allowed to deny coverage for children with costly pre-existing medical conditions. About a quarter will have to end annual limits on benefits.

The law also prompted some companies to avoid tinkering with benefits too much. About a fifth of the companies scaled back changes to their health plans to avoid losing grandfathered status and having to follow more of the law’s new rules, while another fifth expected to make no adjustments at all.

New plans or those that lose grandfathered status must cover preventive services such as mammograms and colonoscopies at no additional cost to patients. They also must allow access to a pediatrician or obstetrician without a referral.

Just over half of the companies planned to go ahead with plan changes for 2011 anyway.

These figures could change, since the survey was conducted before the Department of Health and Human Services put out final rules in June on how to maintain grandfathered status. Plans that significantly reduce benefits or increase costs beyond medical inflation will be considered a new plan.

“While the health reform law has forced employers to evaluate their health care benefit strategies and decide whether to comply with the law or lose grandfathered status, they haven’t lost sight of the fact that controlling rising costs remains one of, if not their highest, priority,” Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health, said in a statement.

The report suggested the law could spur higher costs, which the companies budgeted to grow by nearly 9 percent on average in 2011.

Most employers surveyed plan to shift more of the premium costs to employees next year. Other popular ways to reduce costs are wellness programs and consumer-directed health plans, which give enrollees more responsibility for how they spend their healthcare dollars. (Reporting by Jon Lentz; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

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