Survey: Businesses Working To Address Health Care Costs
About 9% of businesses with 500 or more employees said they are "likely" or "very likely" to drop health benefits for their employees in 2014, after state-based insurance exchanges under the federal health reform law become operational, according to a Mercer survey of 2,844 employers. The survey also found that many employers are concerned about escalating health costs for their workers and are developing strategies to lower costs, such as offering a high-deductible plan with a health savings account.
- "Cost of Employee Health Benefits Up 6.7%, Mercer Survey Says" (Boulton, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 11/16).
- "Employers Step Up Efforts To Curb Health Care Costs" (Abelson, "Prescriptions," New York Times, 11/16).