Next week at the 24th Annual Benefits Forum and Expo in Dallas hosted by Employer Benefit News, I’ll be presenting on a necessary transformation that’s already underway – changing healthcare users into healthcare consumers.
We know that price tags don’t exist when it comes to most healthcare services. So, the average American simply can’t compare prices for prescriptions and other medical and dental services as they can for almost any other good or service. At the grocery store, I’ve been surprised to see costs for common items inching up year-after-year, but it scares me to think that medical costs are skyrocketing at twice the rate of inflation. It’s easy to understand why many Americans are willing to gamble with their health by choosing to avoid costly prescriptions and routine tests simply because spending the money could stretch the monthly budget too thin.
From an employer perspective, Randall Abbott of Towers Watson stated it best: “2012 will be a defining year – employers will head down a path of bold and decisive action.” In any scenario, the expected cost hikes for 2012 are hitting at the worst possible economic time. Uncertainty and low confidence across the corporate spectrum has businesses readjusting their benefit plan offerings, asking employers for higher contributions with less coverage.
To minimize the effect this has on hard-working employees, companies large and small need to communicate the success of consumer-directed healthcare plans coupled with healthcare cost information made available by a variety of vendors. Adding tools and services for employees to understand and act on cost-savings opportunities allows them to ease the sting that higher premiums and deductibles bring.
We know that having these kinds of tools will actually drive selection of and the satisfaction with the CDHP option, saving the employer and employee hundreds of dollars in healthcare expenses annually. Our client experience tells us that the public is hungry for healthcare pricing information, and ready to become smart healthcare consumers.
See you in Dallas!
-Christopher
