After Years Of Rising Deductibles For Workers, Some Employers Are Tapping The Brakes
Instead of continuing the trend of passing on the burden of higher costs to employees, some companies are looking to address the underlying reasons for the spending. Among other strategies, some organizations are bypassing insurers and negotiating deals with hospitals directly and a growing number are offering their own clinics. Meanwhile, experiments that work to improve a patient's social factors, such as housing, are finding big savings.
The Wall Street Journal:
Employers Change Tactics To Curb Health-Insurance Costs
Company leaders are grappling with how to deal with the rising cost of health insurance in ways that get beyond the longtime strategy of simply passing on more of the burden to workers. “The CEOs of our clients are more involved in the health-care benefits program than I’ve seen in 25 years,” says Jim Winkler, a senior vice president at consulting firm Aon PLC. “It’s, ‘What are we spending our money on, and does it make sense?’ ” (Wilde Mathews, 12/2)
CQ:
Big Savings Seen In Health Costs From Providing Comfort With Care
As state and federal officials increasingly search for ways to curb rising health care costs, a decades-old idea is gaining traction: helping people with challenges that have nothing to do with medical care but everything to do with their health. Insurers are taking steps as simple as paying for hot meal deliveries and outreach to homebound people and replacing air filters in homes with asthmatic children. More radical approaches include building affordable housing for people who don’t have a stable home of their own. (Williams, 12/3)
And in more news —
Wyoming Public Radio:
Lawmakers Look To Decrease Health Care Costs
A Wyoming legislative committee has quietly put together a series of bills that is looking at the high cost of health care in the state as well as making health care more accessible. At a recent meeting of the legislature's Health and Labor Committee, Senator Charles Scott stated that consumers pay a lot for health care in the state. (Beck, 11/30)
