Health Care Cost Trends: Since 2002, the rate at which health costs have
increased has gradually slowed, from a high of 14.7 percent five years ago to 8
percent last year. But that trend is not expected to continue, according to a
survey by Watson Wyatt Worldwide and the National Business Group on Health.
The rate of increase is expected to stay at 8 percent through 2008. While the
increase is still more than twice the rate of inflation, the survey’s authors
suggest that it represents a stabilization achieved by employers who have been
able to successfully manage their health care costs.
According to the survey, 82 percent of employers came in at or under their
anticipated health care budget. Employers who best managed their costs did so by
focusing on the quality of the health care their employees receive and by
providing employees with information on health care costs and quality, as well
as giving them tools to be able to manage their health and health care
costs.
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