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Increase in Insurance Premiums
Benefits & Compensation
Increase in Insurance Premiums
Exchange ideas about health plans, retirement, work/life benefits, and employee assistance.
I am hearing from several people that the increase in the employee portion of health insurance premiums for their companies for the next Plan Year are going up by a very large percentage. The reason b
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Forums » Topic Forums » Benefits & Compensation » Increase in Insurance Premiums
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Increase in Insurance Premiums
posted at 12/1/2010 8:00 AM EST
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Posts: 1047
First: 4/11/2002 Last: 9/14/2011 |
Even if the changes are minor, you aren't making an apples to apples comparison. Trend is going to be anywhere between 10% and 14%. It's probably going to be closer to 11% or 12%, however, regional factors need to be taken into consideration.
So the real question people should be asking is: how can you continuously beat trend? If you're fully-insured, it's going to be difficult since even in good claims experience years an insurance carrier's manual rates are going to pull the increase up higher than it should be (assuming a blended renewal). Small employers are always going to fall into this bucket since rarely does a carrier look at claims experience for groups with less than 50 employees. If you have more than 50 employees, you should be looking at 3 things: 1. Funding arrangement - unless you're self-insured, your costs are going to be higher than they should due to margin, state premium tax, manual rates, conservative underwriting, etc. 2. Plan design - unless you have a plan design that engages your workforce, expect costs to increase at normal levels, all things being equal. In other words, plans that have fixed out-of-pocket costs (copays) on virtually all services or a very low deductible will fair worse than plans that increase accountability and responsibility. 3. Wellness - this really can be encompassed into the 2nd point, however, employers need to understand that this isn't generic wellness programs set up outside of the medical plan. A truly effective wellness program has to be catered to your individual employees and be "part of" your medical plan. |
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Increase in Insurance Premiums
posted at 7/12/2011 8:50 AM EDT
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Posts: 4
First: 7/12/2011 Last: 7/12/2011 |
A lot of companies are managing health care costs by pre-funding their premiums, allowing them to lock in monthly healthcare spending for three year increments. It's a very good deal if you have more than 500 employees, self-insured or not. I like the idea of a predictable monthly remittance, plus, at a lower cost. I can pass on a phone number if anyone is interested. cesusa2002@yahoo.com |
Forums » Topic Forums » Benefits & Compensation » Increase in Insurance Premiums
