Business Owners and HR Professionals Believe the Quality of Benefits Packages Impacts Company Reputation
February 14 2017 - 6:45AM
Business Wire
Fourth Annual Benefits Benchmark Survey by
Healthcare Trends Institute Reports Increased HSA Adoption and
Focus on Attracting and Retaining Quality Employees with Health
Benefits
As the healthcare industry undergoes significant changes, more
than two-thirds of employers are relying on health benefits
packages to improve employee morale and satisfaction within the
workplace. Today, the Healthcare Trends Institute, an educational
platform and news website powered by WEX Health, announced the
findings from its fourth annual Benefits Benchmark Survey, which
provides employers insights into how their peers are adopting new
healthcare benefits options.
According to the survey, the majority of employers and HR
executives view health benefits offerings as key tools to attract
and retain employees. When asked which of the following were
important outcomes of the health benefits offering, three-quarters
of respondents answered that retaining and attracting quality
employees were important outcomes. The majority of respondents also
said that improving employee morale and satisfaction (68 percent)
and improving employee health (67) were key considerations.
Further, when asked to rank on a scale of one to 10 how strongly
they agreed with the statement “the quality of a benefits package
impacts the reputation of my company”—with 10 being “strongly
agree”—67 percent selected seven or higher, with nearly a quarter
citing “strongly agree.”
“Employers are faced with daily challenges to keep employees
healthy and engaged at work,” said Tiffany Wirth, executive
director, Healthcare Trends Institute. “As the market continues to
move in a direction of consumerism and consolidation, it is
important to track how offerings have evolved as well as the
perspectives of HR and benefits administrators on the types of
plans that are most effective in meeting employees’ demands.”
Employers Are Seeking More Choices at Better Costs
In terms of current offerings, 70 percent of respondents said
their company currently offers Preferred Provider Organizations (up
from 60 percent in 2015); 67 percent offer Flexible Spending
Accounts (up from 59 percent in 2015); 59 percent offer Health
Savings Accounts (up from 52 percent in 2015); and 53 percent offer
High Deductible Health Plans (up from 39 percent in 2015). The
growth in these types of plans and consumer spending accounts is
indicative of the market shifting to consumer-driven healthcare and
increased employee cost-sharing. Notably, more than half of
employers responded that their employees are enrolled in an HSA,
FSA or HRA.
Given the uncertainty of healthcare reform, some employers are
making changes to their offerings. Approximately one in five survey
respondents said they are increasing employee cost-sharing and
employee engagement in healthcare decisions. Employers are also
looking to enhance wellness and preventative health programs (18
percent). During the past two years, the approach to designing
benefits has changed, with nearly one-third (29 percent) of
respondents citing that they are now collaborating with outside
organizations to find opportunities to reduce employee costs, and
27 percent responding that they are now offering healthy lifestyle
and wellness incentives. Nearly one in five (16 percent) said they
are working directly with providers to design health plans.
The 2016 Healthcare Benefits Benchmark Survey is available for
download here, along with a recap of a live webcast on the
findings.
Survey MethodologyThese survey findings are based on an
annual survey of more than 200 CEOs and human resources and
benefits executives that provides insights into the rapidly
changing healthcare benefits industry. The survey was fielded
online between January 1 and January 20, 2017.
About Healthcare Trends InstituteHealthcare Trends
Institute (HTI) is an educational platform to help employers,
third-party administrators, health plans, brokers, banks, payroll
providers, consumers and other stakeholders keep up with the
rapidly changing healthcare benefits industry. It covers a range of
topics related to the administration and management of healthcare
benefits, including defined contribution, health exchanges,
insurance, legislation and more.
Healthcare Trends Institute programs include an educational web
series, an annual awards program, newsletters, training programs, a
resource library, a real-time health exchange infographic and more.
To ensure all content and programs achieve the highest level of
quality and relevancy, HTI is guided by an Editorial Advisory Board
comprising of subject-matter experts who represent diverse aspects
and perspectives within the healthcare benefits industry. HTI is
sponsored by WEX Health, a WEX Company and an award-winning
healthcare financial technology platform provider. More information
is available at www.healthcaretrendsinstitute.org.
Follow Healthcare Trends Institute on Twitter, LinkedIn,
Facebook and Google+ to get the latest information on benefits
trends in the workplace.
About WEX Health, Inc.We simplify the business of
healthcare through WEX Health Cloud, a cloud-based healthcare
financial management platform that drives efficiency for benefit
administration technology, consumer engagement, and advanced
billing and payments. Our partner organizations enable us to
deliver our industry-leading and award-winning solution to 225,000
employers and more than 24 million consumers. Together, we take the
complexity out of defined contribution, HSAs, HRAs, FSAs, VEBAs,
PRAs, premium billing, public and private health insurance
exchanges, COBRA, wellness plans and transit plans. Learn more at
http://www.wexhealthinc.com/, and follow WEX Health at
@WEXHealthInc. (NYSE: WEX)
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170214005135/en/
Healthcare Trends InstituteHeather Hawes,
630-868-5063heather@healthcaretrendsinstitute.orgorMedia
InquiriesWEX HealthTiffany Wirth,
701-499-7215twirth@evolution1.com
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