May 01, 2019
Employers are using creative ways to control health care costs, according to a survey by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEB) “Telemedicine stands out as the fastest growing health care cost-management technique among employers,” said Julie Stich of IFEB. In 2016, 44 percent of employers offered telemedicine. By 2018, that number jumped to 64 percent. These other cost-cutting techniques are popular with employers:
- 71 percent: Case management services to identify barriers that may prevent the best care
- 68 percent: 24-hour nurse advice lines
- 65 percent: Prior authorization requirements to determine if a treatment is medically necessary
- 61 percent: Utilization analysis to pinpoint the employees’ top health concerns
- 43 percent: Dependent eligibility audits
- 40 percent: Four tiers for cost-sharing
- 38 percent: Price transparency/comparison tools
- 37 percent: Audits of health care claims
- 36 percent: Health care consumer education
- 25 percent: Spousal surcharges or carve-outs in which spouses are discouraged or blocked from enrolling in the plan
- 13 percent: Opt-out incentives in which participants are offered paid incentives not to enroll in their health care plan
As health care costs continue to rise, it has become even more challenging for employers to provide benefits that attract and retain employees. Contact your LISI Regional Sales Manager for ways to offer desirable benefits that are also cost-effective.
