Employers use education, accountability to manage health care costs

Forty-five percent of employers believe educating employees on benefits is a top priority among management, as more senior leaders are taking on advocate roles, according to the Employee Benefits Accountability and Consumerism 2011 survey by WorldatWork.

“It’s interesting to note that, although the top human resources executive is still the primary champion of employee benefits consumerism, we saw an uptick in respondents reporting that the CEO, president or another member of the senior leadership team is their primary advocate,” says Lenny Sanicola, a WorldatWork certified benefits professional. “What this tells me is that benefits and especially health care is increasingly being recognized as directly impacting bottom-line profits.”