For employers seeking to better manage health care costs and benefits, the journey continues from employer paternalism and centralized control to employee engagement and ownership of health insurance and employee benefits. In our fifth annual study the 2014 bswift Benefits Study we identify trends and provide insight into how organizations are using wellness initiatives, consumerism and technology to shift responsibility for benefit decision-making and management from employer to employee.
This year, three employer strategies stand out as trends in progress, each with employee ownership as the central tenet: 1) reliance on employee self-service and automation; 2) the ramping-up of wellness programs and related incentives; and 3) the consideration but not yet adoption of a defined contribution approach incorporating more health plan options for employees. Our findings indicate that these three tactics are at different stages of industry adoption, with employee self-service at the most mature end of the spectrum, outcomes-based wellness incentives moving into adolescence and defined contribution remaining in its infancy. All three are likely to continue to gain momentum in the years ahead.
