The 2014 TELUS Health Plan Sponsor Survey

Transcription

1 The 2014 TELUS Health Plan Sponsor Survey Any organization that offers benefits to employees needs to know how the design of their health plan affects costs and employee productivity. A thoughtfully designed healthcare benefit plan is not only a key competitive differentiator for plan sponsors, it also plays a critical role in ensuring the sustainability of human-resource offerings. The aim of TELUS Health s annual plan sponsor survey is to document and share industry-wide trends and influencers to help insurers, brokers, and employers put the right benefit plans in place. The 2014 TELUS Health Plan Sponsor Survey 1 (conducted by Research House) polled 100 senior employee benefit personnel 2 in medium-to-large-size plan sponsors during September and October The plan sponsors who participated worked for public and private sector enterprises with the distribution as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1: Breakdown of plan sponsor sample Employer Size Market Sector Region Frequency Percent 500 to 1,000 1,001 to 5,000 >5,000 Public Private British Columbia 14 14% Alberta 12 12% Saskatchewan/Manitoba 10 10% Ontario 37 37% Quebec 19 19% Atlantic Canada 8 8% Total Percentage 57% 36% 7% 25% 75% Because the sample is different from previous years 3, year-over-year comparisons are focused on subcategories of plan sponsor size because the mix in the entire sample is so different. This document provides an overview of responses from the 2014 survey in the key areas of plan coverage, influencers, and costs. 1 Source: 2014 TELUS Health Plan Sponsor Survey, INSIGHTS 2014, Volume 10, Issue 2 2 Typical titles are VP Human Resources, HR Manager, and Benefits Manager 3 To read the 2013 Plan Sponsor survey

2 What benefits do plan sponsors offer? Even though this year s survey has a greater number of small plan sponsors and fewer large ones, we see that short-term disability, employee assistance, and wellness programs are now all common benefit offerings (Figure 2). Figure 2: Types of benefit programs offered by plan sponsors Personal well being days Wellness program or initiative Short term disability/weekly indemnity Employee assistance program 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% We asked plan sponsors for specific information regarding their wellness programs and initiatives, with the results shown in Figure 3. There appears to be much more emphasis on disease management, disability management and stress management than previously. All of these changes signal that employers may have a better understanding today of the value of, and return from, these programs than in the past. Figure 3: Wellness programs offered by frequency of mention Other Blood work testing (e.g. for blood sugar levels, cholesterol, etc) Use wearable devices (e.g. FibBit or Jawbone device) Disease management programs Health screening with biometrics (e.g. for blood pressure, weight, etc) On-site fitness centre Weight loss programs Fitness reimbursement Stress management programs Health coaching - with nutritionists, fitness trainers, etc. Organization wellness challenges Disability management programs 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

3 What influences decision-making about benefits? Most plan sponsors are trying to achieve a balance between cost saving and encouraging and promoting employee health (Figure 4). This year s survey asked respondents to rank, on a scale of 1 to 5, whether they were primarily looking for cost containment (1) or health promotion and disease prevention (5) in their benefit programs. Most of the responses were in the middle of the range, with approximately equal numbers at the extreme ends of cost containment and health promotion. Figure 4: HR focus in providing benefits Primarily health management Mostly health management, cost containment sometimes Cost and health management are considered equally Mostly cost containment, health management sometimes Primarily cost containment 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% Percent of respondents

4 What influences decision-making about benefits? (continued) While the overwhelming majority of respondents feel that benefit plans are an important part of compensation strategies (Figure 5), decisions on benefit coverage are evaluated based on their value-add to workplace productivity, adherence to industry standards and the firm s overall compensation strategy (Figure 6). Figure 5: Importance of the benefit plan in attracting and retaining employees 34% Others Extremely or very important 66% Figure 6: Determinants of benefit design Our benefits are primarily determined from union negotiations Our benefit programs are designed to optimize the productivity of our workforce Our benefit plan reflects practices in our industry Our benefits are an important component of our compensation strategy 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

5 Cost issues About 80 per cent of all plan sponsors saw cost increases of less than 10 per cent for their benefits in 2014 (Figure 7). The ratio decreased marginally for smaller plans, but increased for larger plans. Figure 7: Share of plan sponsors with cost increases less than 10 per cent % 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% 500 to 1,000 1,001 to 5,000 1,001 to 5,000 Number of employees

6 Cost issues (continued) When plan sponsors have cost increases, two-thirds of the respondents indicated the usual practice is to absorb the cost and carry on with the plan as in the previous year. One out of 10 changed carriers and the rest made changes to their plans to increase employee cost sharing or reduce benefits. Figure 8: Responses to plan cost increases Pay the premium increase and add/increase beneficiary co-payments Other Pay the premium increase and add/increase beneficiary deductible Change insurance carrier Change the plan coverage type to decrease the premium Pay the premium increase and made no change to the drug plan 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% Respondents were then asked to rank potential cost drivers on a scale ranging from not at all important to very important. Figure 9 shows the cost drivers that were considered quite important or very important. Figure 9: perceiving cost driver as important or very important Consumer advertising (television or print) Increased utilization due to age Pharmacists professional fees Doctors prescribing more medications Government cost shifting/cutting More high cost drugs Increased utilization due to stress 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

7 Future intentions Plan sponsors who do not currently have arrangements in place to limit financial and administrative costs provided information regarding the types of plan changes under consideration for implementation in the next three years (Figure 10) and the likely influencers of the plan design moving forward (Figure 11). Figure 10: Administrative plan changes under consideration Remove/reduce benefits for retirees Multi-tier co-pay/plan design Provide benefits to retired employees Health or medical savings account Add flex benefits to plans Switch to pay-direct card Implement employee wellness program 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% Figure 11: People or groups who are mentioned as frequently consulted on plan design changes Pharmaceutical representatives Corporate physician Your competitors drug benefit plans Employees Unions Your third party administrator or on-line adjudicator Broker Chief financial officer Insurers Benefit consultants 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

8 Future intentions (continued) Respondents were asked if they monitor and track drug costs (Figure 12). Roughly half of the plan administrators track or monitor drug costs and the drivers of costs. About a quarter have some sort of measurement in place for the outcomes of their wellness spending. Despite this fairly large expense item, 40 per cent of respondents do not track these costs or analyse what is driving them. Figure 12: with systems to monitor plan metrics Employee wellness Drug cost growth rates Drug cost drivers 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% Share of Respondents The truth is in the numbers While there are solid indications that plan sponsors are embracing the role of wellness programs to drive cost containment objectives, plan sponsors are still in the dark when it comes to measuring the effectiveness of these new strategies. Only a few have taken steps to develop measurement tools that look at the return on their spending across all components of the benefit plan and there is limited awareness of what is possible. This presents an opportunity for plan sponsors to talk to their benefits advisors and insurers about implementing measurement metrics and adjusting plans based on resulting data. By comprehensively monitoring and measuring programs, plan sponsors can tailor solutions that better respond to member needs while driving cost containment initiatives. Stay connected telushealth.com