INDIANAPOLIS, Aug. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- United Benefit Advisors (UBA), (http://benefits.com ), an alliance of the nation's premier independent benefit advisory firms, today released the results of its first annual employer-sponsored health plan benchmark survey. With responses from 12,176 health plans sponsored by more than 8,700 employers nationwide, the 2005 UBA/Ingenix Health Plan Survey is by far the largest and most comprehensive survey of plan design and plan costs ever conducted.
"The unprecedented number of respondents allows the report to define benchmarks for a greater number of specific industries, regions, and employee size categories than have ever been available previously," said David LoCascio, UBA's Co-Founder. "The results will be of tremendous value in helping employers evaluate the effectiveness of their current plans and to knowledgably make future adjustments to keep their benefits both competitive and cost-effective."
The survey report provides vital benchmark statistics on hundreds of health plan factors, including detailed enrollment, plan design, plan cost, employee premium cost-sharing, prescription drug, retiree plan, and flexible spending account norms.
Among the survey's numerous findings: * Average premiums increased 9.6% for all plans (after any plan adjustments), but only 3.4% for Consumer Driven Plans. * Average premiums have increased to $327 for single coverage, with employees contributing an average of $53 of the cost. Average premiums for the highest premium tier (full family coverage) average $927, with employees contributing $381 on average. * Employers expect a continual slow decline in the double-digit cost increases of the past six years, but anticipate average cost increases of 12.2% next year (before any plan changes), reflecting little confidence that a substantive solution to rising costs has been found. * Only 2.6% of employers currently offer Consumer Driven Plans (high deductible plans with an HRA or HSA), with 1.9% of all employees enrolled in the plans, although a significantly larger percentage of employers are considering adding such a plan next year. * Employee choice continues to proliferate. Over one-third of all employers now offer their employees two or more plans from which to choose. In addition, 63.9% of employees are enrolled in PPO plans, which provide benefits for services received from non-network providers, while only 20.1% of employees are enrolled in HMO or EPO plans, which typically provide no such non-network benefits.
"With employer health plan information reported for over 2,600 cities from virtually every state in the country, differences in plan design and plan costs between various regions and industry groups become apparent," said Mr. LoCascio. "This unique level of additional information provides important factors in determining not just what is happening with health plan costs, but why it's happening."
An example is the often reported fact that health plan premiums are higher in the Northeast than other areas of the country (11% higher than the national average according to the UBA/Ingenix survey). One possible explanation that emerged from the survey data is that employers in the Northeast offer a far higher percentage of HMO and POS plans, which typically have richer level of benefits, than any other region of the country. In addition, although only 16% of all PPO plans have no deductible required, a whopping 60% of all such plans are in the Northeast region.
Other important findings include: * The median single PPO deductible is now $500, while in-network and out-of-network coinsurance is 80% and 60% respectively. * HMO premiums on average are approximately 5% lower than PPO premiums. * Employers continue to explore a number of cost-containment strategies for prescription drug benefits, with plans having only two copay tiers falling to only 10.9% of all plans, while plans requiring four copay tiers have become nearly twice as prevalent. * Plans providing coverage for same-sex domestic partners remain at approximately one of every six employers (17.3%). * Plan premiums increased approximately 1% more for the smallest employers (fewer than 25 employees) than for all other employers.
"The focus of the survey was to provide not only large employers with effective plan benchmarks, but to also provide the 99.3% of employer plan sponsors who have fewer than 1,000 employees with data that is critical in managing their programs effectively," said Mr. LoCascio. "Also, with the rapidly increasing number of employers having operations in more than one location, a genuinely national survey of this previously unavailable size and scope is the most effective way to deliver that information."
Copies of the survey are available for purchase via UBA's website at http://www.benefits.com . A companion report, the 2005 UBA/Ingenix Employer Opinion Survey, which delineates employers' specific health care strategies, cost-containment efforts, opinions, and future expectations regarding their health plans, will be available in mid-September.
About United Benefit Advisors (UBA)
UBA, (http://benefits.com ), is one of the nation's largest employee benefits advisory organizations with over 1,600 experienced benefits professionals located in more than 150 offices across North America. As an alliance of the nation's premier independent benefit advisory firms, UBA members are better positioned to help employers and employees respond more efficiently and effectively to the challenges of an ever-changing employee benefits marketplace.
For information regarding UBA, contact: Bill Howell, President 856-768-2508 billhowell@unitedbenefitadvisors.com For information regarding the 2005 UBA/Ingenix Health Plan Survey, contact: David LoCascio, Co-Founder 317-705-1800 david@unitedbenefitadvisors.com
United Benefit AdvisorsCONTACT: Bill Howell, President, +1-856-768-2508, orbillhowell@unitedbenefitadvisors.com , or David LoCascio, Co-Founder,+1-317-705-1800, or david@unitedbenefitadvisors.com , both of UnitedBenefit Advisors
Web site: http://benefits.com/
