Family Healthcare Contributions Edge Closer to Full Month's Salary, Says Aon Consulting
21 Aprile 2008 - 8:41PM
PR Newswire (US)
Employers shift focus to wellness programs to reduce healthcare
costs and improve productivity CHICAGO, April 21
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- While the median households in the United
States earn approximately $48,000 annually(1), the amount these
families spend on employer-sponsored health care per year continues
to edge closer to one month's salary. Aon Consulting's 2008
Benefits and Talent Survey revealed that the median annual
contribution for family healthcare coverage is $3,120, which is a
15 percent increase from 2007, and 22 percent increase from 2006
(see chart page 4). Meanwhile, organizations have experienced
approximately 10 percent annual healthcare cost increases since
2006. (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041215/CGW049LOGO) Employers
are beginning to move beyond this traditional cost shifting to cost
control by focusing on improving the health and productivity of
their employees. The survey of more than 1,100 U.S.-based
organizations found that 64 percent of employers now have a
benefits strategy that promotes the importance of health and
productivity to their employees. "By providing their workforce the
tools and resources to improve their health, employers are making a
commitment to invest in their employees, leading to a more
productive workforce," said John Zern, Aon Consulting's U.S. Health
& Benefits practice director. "This is a change from the
traditional perspective of cutting medical program costs without
regard to long-term impact or worker productivity." Wellness
programs The most common way organizations today are promoting
health and productivity is through wellness programs, which are
primarily designed to prevent the development of chronic conditions
(i.e., diabetes and heart disease). According to the survey, the
amount of employers implementing specific wellness programs has
increased three-fold from 2007 to 2008. For example, about 46
percent of employers are implementing smoking cessation programs
this year, up from 14 percent of employers in 2007. Following are
the top five wellness programs employers are implementing in 2008:
-- Promotion of exercise/physical activity -- 68 percent (19
percent in 2007) -- Disease management programs -- 60 percent (18
percent in 2007) -- Health risk appraisals -- 48 percent (14
percent in 2007) -- Biometric screening -- 47 percent (12 percent
in 2007) -- Telephonic health care coaching -- 46 percent (14
percent in 2007) "These figures show that employers now recognize
the link between employee lifestyle behaviors and medical spend,"
said Tom Lerche, Aon Consulting's Health Care practice leader.
"Chronic conditions, for example, are influenced by smoking,
obesity, poor nutrition and leading a sedentary lifestyle, and
account for more than 60 percent of healthcare costs. Through
stress management, weight management and smoking cessation
programs, employers can focus on the root causes of these chronic
conditions to reduce health risk factors among employees and
dependents, which lead to a lower rate of increase in healthcare
costs." The expected worker shortage has also impacted the increase
in wellness programs among employers. "In an era when retiring baby
boomers are expected to contribute to the skilled worker shortages
in the next 10 years, employers are embracing wellness and health
promotion programs today to reduce absenteeism," Lerche said. "Some
employers value wellness programs as an effective recruitment tool
and others believe the programs can reduce disability costs."
Additionally, the availability of wellness programs has increased.
More employers are buying these services directly and more carriers
are offering wellness initiatives to organizations, according to
Lerche. The survey also shows that employers have added incentives
to motivate employees to participate in wellness programs, with 23
percent offering incentives to take health risk appraisals. Twenty
percent of employers are providing incentives to employees who
complete health risk programs such as tobacco cessation or weight
management programs. The type of incentives varies, but about 22
percent of employers offer non-monetary awards such as gift cards
and merchandise. Only 10 percent of organizations offer employees a
premium contribution reduction. Tracking and Benchmarking While
employers understand the importance of offering wellness programs
and motivating employees to improve their health, the majority of
employers do not have a process in place to measure program impact
or track return on investment. For example, those organizations do
not have a data tracking process for: -- Overweight employees -- 92
percent of employers -- Tobacco users -- 87 percent of employers --
Biometric data as a result of employee screenings -- 79 percent of
employers -- Participation in its corporate disease management
program -- 69 percent of employers "Tracking and benchmarking
employee metrics must go hand in hand with implementing wellness
programs and must be measured to determine the return on investment
and changes in productivity," Lerche said. According to Aon
Consulting, tracking and benchmarking will enable an employer to:
-- Evaluate benefit plan performance including health management
vendor performance. -- Identify main reasons for medical costs and
implement effective value-based strategies for new programs. --
Determine return on investment and the effectiveness of wellness
programs in improving health status and lowering service
utilization. "Effectively communicating data with the workforce
also helps establish a benefits partnership between the employer
and employee, as they work together to influence outcomes and
reduce healthcare costs. Employees will be much more appreciative
and engaged if they are presented with data tracked over time that
explains why benefit changes are being made," Lerche said. (1)
$48,201 according to the U.S. Census Bureau Income, Poverty, and
Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2006 About Aon Aon
Corporation (NYSE:AOC) is the leading global provider of risk
management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, human
capital and management consulting. Through its 36,000 colleagues
worldwide, Aon readily delivers distinctive client value via
innovative and effective risk management and workforce productivity
solutions. Our industry-leading global resources, technical
expertise and industry knowledge are delivered locally through more
than 500 offices in more than 120 countries. Aon was named the
world's "best broker" by Euromoney magazine's 2008 Insurance
Survey. Aon also was ranked by A.M. Best as the number one global
insurance brokerage in 2007 based on brokerage revenues, and voted
best insurance intermediary, best reinsurance intermediary, and
best employee benefits consulting firm in 2007 by the readers of
Business Insurance. For more information on Aon, log onto
http://www.aon.com/. About Aon Consulting Aon Consulting Worldwide
(http://www.aon.com/hcc) is among the top global human capital
consulting firms, with 2007 revenues of $1.352 billion and 6,335
professionals in 117 offices worldwide. Aon Consulting is shaping
the workplace of the future through benefits, talent management and
rewards strategies and solutions. Aon Consulting was named the best
employee benefit consulting firm by the readers of Business
Insurance magazine in 2006 and 2007. 2008 Median Monthly Medical
Costs Source: Aon Consulting's 2008 Benefits and Talent Survey
Monthly Medical Costs Employee - Employer - Plan Median Monthly
Median Monthly *Total Monthly Coverage Contribution Contribution*
Cost* 2006 2007 2008 2006 2007 2008 2006 2007 2008 Employee only
$50 $60 $66 $291 $303 $326 $341 $363 $392 Employee +1 $137 $148
$160 $553 $550 $628 $690 $698 $788 Employee + spouse $147 $153 $189
$555 $573 $633 $702 $726 $822 Employee + child $134 $145 $160 $552
$540 $574 $686 $685 $734 Employee + children $166 $171 $186 $697
$669 $641 $863 $840 $827 Family $203 $222 $260 $777 $787 $863 $908
$1009 $1123 *Total monthly cost was determined by dividing the
COBRA amounts by 102%. Monthly employer contributions were derived
by subtracting the monthly employee contribution from the total
monthly costs. For more information, contact: Sara Carlson
312.381.5045
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041215/CGW049LOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Aon Corporation CONTACT:
Sara Carlson of Aon, +1-312-381-5045, Web site: http://www.aon.com/
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