It’s open enrollment season for health insurance at companies throughout the US, and employers are providing more options with low or no deductibles to try to make plans more affordable for employees.
That’s one of the top findings of surveys conducted by benefit consultants for the 2023 plan year.
More than 40% of large employers surveyed by Mercer said they will provide a plan with low or no deductible in 2023, such as a copay-based plan, and 11% are considering it, the professional services firm reported.
About one in five large employers said they are focusing on enhancing benefits for their hourly and low-wage workers.
This year “could be the calm before the storm,” Kaiser Family Foundation President and CEO Drew Altman said in a release accompanying the health-care research organization’s 2022 Employer Health Benefits Survey of plans that cover about 159 million Americans.
Annual family premiums stayed nearly flat in 2022 at $22,463, but KFF said recent inflation suggests that larger increases are “imminent.”
Employers are also trying to rein in costs by implementing more virtual health opportunities and expanding the use of centers of excellence for more conditions, such as cancer, according to the Business Group on Health.
And expanding access to mental health services is a high priority for many, the Business Group on Health found, with 47% of employers listing that as a top priority.
To contact the reporter on this story:
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Learn more about Bloomberg Law or Log In to keep reading:
See Breaking News in Context
Bloomberg Law provides trusted coverage of current events enhanced with legal analysis.
Already a subscriber?
Log in to keep reading or access research tools and resources.