Survey Shows 94% of Employers Interested in Offering Health Insurance Exchanges Offer Alternative Solutions

With the two-year anniversary of health reform legislation just around the corner, Aon Hewitt, the global human resource solutions business of Aon Corporation, recently surveyed 562 employers nationwide and found that 94 percent are committed to offering and financially supporting health benefit coverage for their employees in some form going forward.

• 72 percent are very or somewhat interested in exploring if an exchange model can be an effective long-term solution for managing the cost of an employee health plan.
• 44 percent of employers believe they will provide employees health benefits through an exchange in the next three to five years, up from the current mark of 4 percent.
• Employers rank the ability to reduce costs (86 percent), improve access to quality plans (45 percent), enhance health and wellness programs (43 percent) and increase health care choices (43 percent) as the most important features when considering an exchange.
• 75 percent of employers that could reduce healthcare costs by moving to an exchange would use a portion of the savings to lower labor costs.
• 64 percent of organizations indicated they would use the savings to invest in expanding health and wellness programs and 62 percent said they would redirect these funds to other non-healthcare related initiatives.

Since the law was enacted, employers are re-evaluating the way that they offer healthcare benefits to their employees. State exchanges will not be available to employers with more than 100 employees until at least 2017. Many small employers may consider an exchange versus providing individual health insurance for their employees. Some feel it will create more competition which will help in lowering costs. Others believe it will thrust individuals into a market that they are unfamiliar with and not provide the tools needed to make wise choices.

Most agree that employers have a vested interest in the health and performance of their employees and that by investing in health and wellness programs it will continue to pay off.

To learn more or to download a copy of the survey report, please visit www.aon.com/healthcareexchange.

What are your thoughts on the exchanges?