High Performing Health Plans - A Summary

High Performing Health Plans have a distinct cost advantage over their non-performing counterparts:

• High performers pay 18% less – roughly $2,000 per employee – for their health benefit programs than a low-performing competitor.
• Employees at high-performing companies pay 20% less than their low-performing counterparts.
• While 35% of low performers report double-digit rate increases, high performing companies are keeping trends well below national averages. Over 33% of these organizations have held their costs to 4% or less.
• Additional aspects of the health dividend for high-performers include supporting/building the company reputation, attracting the needed workforce, maintaining productivity and supporting workforce well-being – all areas where high performers are roughly twice as likely as low-performers to report positive impact delivered by their health programs.
• Investments in wellness programs, communication and measurement disciplines – hallmarks of the high performers – will be increasingly prevalent across all companies just three years from now.
• As a final critical point, ongoing program performance could have significant implications for employees under healthcare reform.  Regardless of how the impact of reform unfolds, it’s clear that companies with efficient programs and a clear, forward-looking strategy for supporting workforce health will be the winners in the new environment.