Staff
With many details of U.S. healthcare reform still unknown, organizations are struggling to develop a long-term healthcare strategy, says a recent survey by Towers Watson.
According to the Health Care Changes Ahead Survey Report, 88% of employers surveyed are planning small or moderate changes to their healthcare plans for 2012 and 45% will rethink their long-term healthcare strategy during the year.
Some other notable findings from the survey include:
- Roughly two-thirds of respondents plan to increase employees’ share of premium contributions.
- Subsidization of coverage for spouses and dependents will be significantly reduced in 2012 by 8% of respondents, with a further 23% considering reductions in 2013 and 2014.
- More than half of those surveyed (54%) believe healthcare reform will be implemented within the anticipated timeline; however, 70% are skeptical that health insurance exchanges will provide a viable alternative to employer-sponsored coverage.
- More than two-thirds (71%) of respondents expect to continue offering health coverage to their active employees through 2014 and 84% believe healthcare benefits will continue to be a key component of their overall employee value proposition beyond 2014.
- More than half of employers (54%) that offer retiree healthcare benefits plan to discontinue them for both pre-65 and post-65 retirees. Many will implement strategies to transition retirees to alternate forms of coverage.
- The majority of respondents (88%) plan to take steps to control their costs and avoid the impact of healthcare reform’s excise tax, due to take effect in 2018. More than half of respondents (56%) believe their current plans will trigger the excise tax.