Employers anticipate complete well being profit prices per worker will improve 5.4% on common in 2024, new knowledge from Mercer exhibits.
“Along with the consequences of current inflationary pressures, well being profit prices are rising from the consolidation of well being programs and the introduction of ultra-expensive gene and mobile therapies,” mentioned Sunit Patel, chief actuary for well being and advantages at Mercer, in a information launch. “This yr, we’re additionally beginning to see the impression of a sudden soar in utilization of pricey GLP-1 medicine getting used to deal with diabetes and weight problems.”
Mercer launched preliminary findings from its 2023 Nationwide Survey of Employer-Sponsored Well being Plans on Thursday. Ultimate survey outcomes will probably be launched later this fall. The preliminary outcomes embody responses from greater than 1,700 employers.
The 5.4% improve consists of modifications employers will make to well being plans to mitigate value will increase. With out modifications, well being profit prices would improve by 6.6% on common in 2024, the respondents reported.
“The comparatively small distinction between the dimensions of the projected will increase earlier than and after plan modifications signifies that almost all employers don’t make cost-cutting modifications to their plans, reflecting issues about worker healthcare affordability,” the information launch said.
Smaller employers with 50 to 499 workers reported a better anticipated improve of seven.5% in well being profit prices, Mercer additionally discovered. Employers of this measurement usually have absolutely insured plans.
“It’s not stunning that absolutely insured plans would have considerably larger will increase,” Patel mentioned. “Given the unpredictability of the healthcare market, insurance coverage carriers are hedging their bets for subsequent yr.”
As well being profit prices improve, employers are nonetheless not trying to shift extra of the prices onto workers, Mercer mentioned. Giant employers anticipate workers paying for 22% of well being plan premium prices by means of paycheck deductions in 2024, which is similar as in 2023 and 2022. About 68% of huge employers mentioned that methods to enhance healthcare affordability for workers will probably be vital for the following a number of years.
Nonetheless, whereas there may be an anticipated improve in well being profit prices, it “may have been worse,” mentioned Tracy Watts, nationwide chief of U.S. Well being Coverage at Mercer.
“One issue could also be that as employers have moved away from cost-shifting to workers, they’ve been implementing cost-management methods directed on the greatest drivers of value — complicated care and continual medical situations,” Watts mentioned in a press release.
As well as, when requested to charge profit methods primarily based on significance over the following three to 5 years, employers have been most certainly to charge “monitoring and managing high-cost claimants” as vital or essential. This normally means specializing in serving to these with complicated situations, Mercer mentioned.
Some methods employers are focusing on complicated care and continual situations are by including Facilities of Excellence to their networks, providing level options to workers with continual situations, offering navigation companies and bettering psychological well being entry by including supplemental behavioral healthcare supplier networks. About 76% of respondents mentioned bettering behavioral healthcare entry is a precedence.
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