Private sector trends such as providing more high-deductible health plans, vision carebenefits and same-sex health care are working their way into thefield of higher education, making inroads into the benefits offeredby colleges and universities, according to a new report fromHRDive.

The survey finds that while preferred provider organizations arestill the most popular type of health care plans in the academicfield, HDHPs are on the rise. A College and University ProfessionalAssociation for Human Resources analysis of health care benefits inhigher education, the Survey of Higher Education EmployeeHealthcare Benefits, which collects data from a cross sectionof U.S. colleges and universities, finds that nearly two-thirds ofhigher education institutions now offer HDHPs, up 16 percent since 2015.

The survey also notes that one-third of institutions coverpart-time staff and adjunct faculty. Academia is also ahead of theprivate sector in covering both opposite- and same-sex partners. In2017, health care benefits for opposite-sex partners rose by 50percent, while those benefits for same-sex partners rose by 75percent.