Wisconsin Plan Reduces Employer Healthcare Costs
An initiative introduced in Wisconsin two years ago from the Business Health Care Group is helping employers across the State reduce healthcare costs. During this time period, data indicates that a subset of the participating employers have seen a nine percent decrease in healthcare costs, as reported by the Milwaukee Sentinel Journal.
The initial plan entailed creation of a contract with Humana for the employers in the area. The new plan, Humana Preferred, covers almost 100,000 people. The plan was launched in 2006. Over 670 employers have joined the plan. Healthcare benefits cover 55,000 employers, along with their family members and retirees.
The assessment described herein evaluated cost savings for those eighteen employers. During the first two years, evaluation indicates that $32 million in healthcare costs were saved. This was in comparison to data from 2005.
The most significant savings occurred during the first year of the program, when the companies reduced costs by 13.7 percent. Last year, on the other hand, costs increased 6.1 percent. The increase is in line with other increases across the industry.
During the first year of the program, Humana created hospital and clinician networks specifically for the new program. Use of these providers resulted in significant discounts for care. The discounts created by Humana were larger than those generally offered by more than ten percent.
And while larger employers have benefited from decreases, some smaller employers have not experienced the same. Almost half the small employers participating, in fact, have seen costs for healthcare rise more than ten percent.
August 7, 2008 Related topics: Finance