Hospitals are continually looking for ways to reduce costs and adapt to the changing healthcare environment. For an increasing number of hospitals, these efforts include looking at stricter rules around health benefits, according to a new survey by Aon's Cammack Health.
The benefits survey, conducted between February and May, included more than 196 hospitals across 86 participating health systems in the Northeast and along the East Coast.
Here are five findings from the survey.
1. The survey found the average annual healthcare expense per employee rose from $11,102 in 2010 to $15,541 in 2017.
2. More than half (56 percent) of respondents customize spouse eligibility or cost-sharing, up from 43 percent last year.
3. Seventy-three percent of plans offered by hospitals have a higher cost-sharing requirement for urgent care visits compared to primary care visits, according to the survey. "While still priced to steer employees away from the emergency room, these copays are beginning to outpace primary care copays to help influence choice for place of service to encourage physician/member relationships," researchers add.
4. Nearly half (48 percent) of plans offered by hospitals use price incentives to urge employees to use their internal pharmacies.
5. The survey found 83 percent of respondents use a domestic tier as an incentive for employees to receive care at their health system. Cammack Health cites a number of strategies used by hospitals. These include no coinsurance (54 percent) or deductible payment (56 percent); no-cost inpatient care (41 percent) and outpatient care (37 percent); and no copay for primary care physician visits (24 percent).
Read more survey findings here.
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