Nearly All Employers Concerned about Health Care Costs

April 20, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Results of the 2010 UBA Employer Opinion Survey indicate that nearly all (99.4%) top decision makers are concerned with the impact health care costs are having or are going to have on their overall corporate costs.

United Benefit Advisors said more than 50% of respondents indicated it is a critical concern. Just slightly fewer (97.9%) are also concerned with the impact health care costs are having on their employees, up nearly 20% from two years ago.   

According to a press release, these results are consistent regardless of industry, employee size category, or geographic region.   

Additional findings from the survey include:

  • Employers in general feel better prepared to communicate and implement complex strategies to deal with health benefits.
  • Employers are less prepared to meet the legislative and regulatory requirements placed upon them, and those requirements are becoming increasingly complex.
  • Less than one in six employers feel the government should develop a universal health care system paid with tax dollars.

“On an encouraging note, there is a trend of employers implementing wellness and health management strategies that they feel are having a positive impact on chronic conditions and the effectiveness of these programs in general,” said William Stafford, Vice President, Member Services at UBA’s corporate headquarters in Indianapolis, in the press release.  

The UBA 2010 Employer Opinion Survey produced a Special Supplement on Health Care Reform in America, released before the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The Supplement reported that more than half (52.3%) of the 1,510 employers surveyed by United Benefit Advisors (UBA) said they think if a comprehensive health reform bill is passed, health care costs will increase at a much higher trend rate than currently. About 20% each said health care costs would increase at the same trend rate or at a lower trend rate (see Employers Say Health Care Reform Won’t Improve Costs).  

Copies of the 2010 UBA Employer Opinion Survey are available for purchase after May 1 by downloading the order form or through the nearest UBA Member Firm listed on the UBA Web site at http://www.UBAbenefits.com. The Supplement can also be downloaded from the UBA Web site.

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