New Study Reveals Trends in Health Plan Cost Strategy.

MEDICAL care costs; EMPLOYEES; HEALTH policy; HEALTH planning; TRENDS; EMPLOYERS

The article reports on a new study which reveals trends in health plan cost strategy. Average total health benefit costs per employee rose to $6,679 in 2004, up from $6,215 the previous year. On a percentage basis, this is an equivalent of a 7.5 per cent increase, down from increases of 10.1 per cent in 2003 and 14.7 per cent in 2002. For 2005, employers, on average, predict a 10 per cent increase in benefits costs per employee from their current vendor. But this increase drops to 6.6 per cent after design changes, dropping a plan, or renegotiations. In organizations with 10 to 499 employees, health care costs rose just 5.5 per cent in 2004. In 2004, health care costs for all companies were highest in the Northeast, where they averaged $7,279 per employee, up 8.4 per cent from the prior year.