It's no secret health care in the United States is undergoing a fundamental change. Rising costs, rampant litigation, ground-breaking health care reform legislation and the global recession are all wreaking havoc with the established norm.

Total health care costs for active employees are expected to top $11,000 in 2011, up from $10,387 in 2010. While employers are facing difficult choices, the health care cost burden is also falling heavily on the employee, who pays 45 percent more today than five years ago. Clearly, both employers and employees are motivated to find ways to reduce the overall cost without endangering health or wellness.

With these uncertainties swirling, innovative, consumer-oriented benefit designs are becoming an employer’s most effective strategy against the health care cost trend. Self-funding medical plans gives the employer the most flexibility to design a plan that reflects the company’s values, delights employees, and generates savings that can be deployed for other benefits or flowed to the bottom line.