Nation's largest and most comprehensive benchmarking survey released
2009 UBA Health Plan Survey is the best source of reliable regional - and in many cases state - health plan benchmarks by employer size and industry categories
UBA is pleased to present the results of the 2009 UBA Health Plan Survey. The report is based upon the responses of 12,316 employers and 17,655 health plans.
The purpose of the survey is to provide employers with comparative data regarding plan costs, employee contributions, and plan designs that will allow them to benchmark their plan against those of similar employers. That evaluation can be based on employers with similar numbers of employees, employers in a similar industry, or employers in a similar geographic area. The survey focuses solely on active employee and retiree health plans and directly related benefits (prescription drugs, HRA/HSA, and Section 125 plans) in order to derive the most useful results possible. A significant strength of this study is its unique ability to support subgroup analyses.
The national scope of the survey allows for regional, industry-specific, and employee size differentials to emerge from the data. In addition, the exceptionally large number of plans included allows for both a broader range of categories than normally reported and a larger number of respondents in each category. This is especially true for the small and mid-size companies who comprise the overwhelming majority of health plans in the country.
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Employers Recognize Potential Impact of Employee Health Management on Future Plan Costs
2009 UBA Employer Benefit Perspectives Survey Reveals Financial Incentives Rank High In Developing Better Health Care Consumers
The majority of employers clearly recognize the potential impact of employee health management programs on future plan costs. More than half of all employers continue to believe that financial incentives should be provided to individuals based on their effort to manage their own chronic conditions," according to William Stafford, Vice President, Member Services for United Benefits Advisors. Over 44% agree that individuals should be pay more if they do not make a reasonable effort to control their chronic conditions. Only 18% believe that no cost differential should result from the employees lack of compliance with appropriate treatments of chronic conditions.
Between 15% and 23% of employers currently provide employees with financial incentives to manage their health, use cost-effective providers, or plan to do so next year, said Stafford. Employee incentives to complete health risk appraisals continue to increase notably each year, with incentives for completing health risk appraisals increasing by 130% compared with our 2006 report. Approximately one-third of all employers would like to add such programs in the future.
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