Employer interest in offering defined contribution health plans is on the rise, a surprising trend some industry experts attribute to a more transformative approach to health care benefit strategy and one advisers and their employer clients should pay attention it.
Forty-two percent of employers now say they are considering a defined contribution approach and 9% of employers have already implemented one, according to the 2015 PricewaterhouseCoopers Health and Well-being touchstone survey. While a DC approach was once never considered in the health care benefit space, Barbara Gniewek, a principal at PricewaterhouseCoopers, told attendees of EBA’s Workplace Benefits Summit in Orlando, Fla. this morning, that rising health care costs and regulatory requirements are forcing employers to find a ‘better way’ of providing benefits and a DC approach is one of them.
