Public employers modifying health benefits - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

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The survey, conducted by Brookfield-base d , showed public employers nationwidwe are modifying their employee health care benefits to includdmore cost-saving measures. The survey found that 72 percent of publidc employers are increasing or considering an increase intheir deductibles, coinsurance or copays. In 74 percent of public employers are increasing or considerinbg an increase in employee When asked why they were consideringhigher deductibles, 46 percentr of public employers cite the financiall crisis.
Almost the same percent, 45 cite the crisis as the reason why they are thinkinf about higheremployee “These findings are although cost-sharing measures have been common in the corporatew world for quite some time, public employers have traditionall y not modified their health care planz in this direction,” Sally Natchek, senior directo of research at the foundatiob said in a statement. “The fact that the majorithy of public employers are now increasing copays and premiums illustrates the dual effect risinyg health care costs and the financiakl crisis are having ontheir plans.
” Othere cost-saving programs that public employerzs are instituting include adding a consumer-driven healthu plan, shifting to a self-funded plan and introducingy spousal surcharges. Nearly three-fourthw of public plan sponsors are placing more emphasi on controlling prescriptiondrug costs. The majority of publi c employers are expanding participant education about drug options and increasingcopayments and/or coinsurance for drugs and mandatingf the use of generic drugs, the surve y found.