Moving forward, 94 percent of employers are committed to offering and financially supporting some type of health benefit coverage for their employees, according to a recent survey by Aon Hewitt, a human capital consulting firm in Chicago.
Specifically, 72 percent of respondents say they are very or somewhat interested in exploring if a corporate exchange model as an effective long-term solution to oversee the costs of an employee health plan, and 44 percent of respondents expect to provide health benefits through a corporate exchange in the next three to five years, which is a large jump from the current 4 percent. Among the most important features are attracting respondents to consider a corporate exchange are reducing costs at 86 percent, improving access to better quality plans at 45 percent, enhancing health and wellness programs at 43 percent and increasing health care choices at 43 percent.
"Large employers will continue to provide valuable health care benefits to their employees," says Ken Sperling, national health exchange strategy leader with Aon Hewitt. "The emergence of corporate exchanges allows employers and employees to benefit from the competitive dynamic that exchanges create and the promise this competition can have in lowering costs."
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Seventy-five percent of respondents who could cut health care costs by moving to a corporate exchange say they would use part of the savings to lower labor costs while 64 percent of respondents say they would use the savings to invest in expanding health and wellness programs. Another 62 percent of respondents say they would relay these funds to other nonhealth care-related programs.
"Every employer, whether they participate in exchanges or not, has a vested interest in the health and performance of their employees," says John Zern, U.S. health and benefits practice director with Aon Hewitt. "Investing in wellness and health improvement will continue to be a priority with employers, regardless of their delivery model. That said, exchanges may enable employers to reduce the staff time focused on benefit plan design, increasing attention on efforts that improve health and lead to increased work force performance."
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