Health Care Spending to Rise – Employers Need a Plan
Healthcare spending in the United States is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 5.5% from 2018 to 2027, based on estimates from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services published by Health Affairs. Average yearly spending growth is estimated at 7.4% in Medicare and 5.5% in Medicaid. While cost growth in private health insurance will be lower relative to the government plans, at 4.8%, that also is a faster rate of growth than we’ve seen over the past decade. Importantly, per-enrollee spending is expected to tick up too. According to the article, the projected increases are due in part to a post-recession positive economic forecast.
Employer Strategies
A well-thought-out strategy will be critical to mitigating future cost increases while ensuring employees have access to affordable, quality healthcare. Learn how to optimize your strategic planning efforts and tune in to Mercer’s upcoming Vitals for Change Scorecard webinar on April 30th, where thought leaders from Mercer and Catalyst for Payment Reform, will discuss where employers stand today versus what lies ahead for employer health benefit strategies.
- Providing care coordination and support for high-cost claimants
- Using incentives to direct employees to Centers of Excellence and other high-performance provider networks
- Shifting away from traditional fee-for-service provider reimbursement toward new payment models that reflect the value of the services provided rather than just the quantity
A well-thought-out strategy will be critical to mitigating future cost increases while ensuring employees have access to affordable, quality healthcare.