It’s well-known that employers in the U.S. plow a significant portion of their budgets into paying for employees’ healthcare.
A recent survey of more than 500 employers showed that responding companies spent on average $10,982 per employee annually on healthcare, according to employee benefits company Towers Watson.
With the Rise of AI, What IP Disputes in Healthcare Are Likely to Emerge?
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
To be sure, employers face plenty of challenges associated with healthcare — such as improving employee engagement and complying with federal health reform regulations — but rapidly escalating costs are likely to remain their biggest problem for the near future.
Despite these headwinds, very few employers (from this survey, at least) foresee dropping health coverage for employees in the next few years, contrary to some earlier warnings of doom.
Only 3 percent of employers are somewhat or very likely to discontinue health plans for active employees in 2014 or 2015, according to the survey. Most of the federal health reform package’s provisions take effect in 2014.
Here’s a list of what employers say are their biggest challenges in managing their healthcare costs.
A Personalized Approach to Medication Nonadherence
At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
1. Employees’ poor health habits
2. High-cost catastrophic cases
3. Underuse of preventive services
4. Escalating cost of specialty drugs
5. Poor employee understanding of how to use the plan
6. Poor or lack of information on provider costs
7. Overuse of care through employees seeking inappropriate care
8. Higher costs due to new medical technologies
9. Cost of compliance and administrative complexity under health reform
10. Changes in workforce dynamics
