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Employers remain committed to providing health care in 2015: Survey

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Employers remain committed to providing health care in 2015: Survey

Most employers will not reduce the number of health care plans or the scope of coverage they offer to their employees in 2015, according to a survey by San Francisco-based benefits consultant Benz Communications Inc.

As employers brace for the onset of new coverage and reporting rules due to take effect in 2015 under the health care reform law, 39% percent of more than 330 employers polled in Benz Communications’ 2014 “Inside Benefits Communication Survey” said they intend to maintain their current selection of group health insurance plans in the coming plan year without reducing the breadth of covered procedures and treatments or increasing employees’ share of total premium costs.

Another 33% of employers said the number of plans and scope of coverage they offer to employees will remain the same in 2015, but that employees will be responsible for a greater share of the total cost of their coverage, according to preliminary survey results released on Tuesday.

Additionally, 16% of employers say they do plan on some reduction in the number of plans they offer to employees next year in order to mitigate anticipated cost increases as a result of the health care reform law’s implementation, and 2% of employers say they plan to scale down on the number of full-time workers they employ in order to reduce their exposure to the reform law’s coverage mandate.

The survey was conducted jointly with the Washington D.C.-based National Business Coalition on Health over the summer. The full results will be published in November.

“However employees choose to respond to the administrative and cost burdens of the ACA, it’s imperative that they frame those actions in a way that clearly communicates to employees the high value of their benefit plans,” Jennifer Benz, founder and CEO of Benz Communications, said in a statement released on Tuesday. “Blaming or shaming the law as the reason for making — or not making — benefit changes doesn’t move the needle in helping employees make informed decisions about choosing plans, getting appropriate care, managing their health or controlling health expenses.”

The survey also revealed limited interest among employers in the concept of moving their active employee health benefits program onto private health insurance exchanges. According to the preliminary results, just 5% of employers currently offer health care benefits through a private exchange, and only 8% were considering doing so within the next three years.

Thirty-two percent of employers said a switch to exchange-based health benefits was possible within 3-5 years, while 55% said they would “never” offer health benefits through an exchange.

“Our survey findings indicate that employers want to continue playing a key role in providing benefits for their employees,” Brian Klepper, CEO of the National Business Coalition on Health, said in a statement. “One of the problems with private exchanges, especially those developed by consultants, is that there’s an obvious conflict of interest.”

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