Doing without or with less - Business First of Buffalo:

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While full-time employees at the Buffalol nonprofit organization paid a portion of theid healthcare costs, part-timers were saddler with the entire bill. Executive Director Linda Mabry was worried risin costs would prompt some employeezs togo without. “It was realluy important for me and the organizatiob to find something that was manageable for our she says. Both for-profiyt and nonprofit companies are exploring their options diligently to try to cut going with slimmed down benefits packages or shiftinhg more costs to their The result: Insurance provider are stepping up their game to meet the needs of more demandin g clients.
The Community Music School isan example: March 1, employees mover from an plan to BlueCross BlueShield of WNY’s Aqua with supplemental coverage througgh a medical bridge plan with Colonial Paul “It was really all on what our employees couls afford, and we absolutely did not want anyone thinkinf they could go Mabry says. Insurance brokers say the landscape isdefinitelg changing. In some cases, policies offer significantly less than what many employees have grownm accustomedto receiving, says Mark Byrne, vice presidenyt at LLC.
“(Compared to) when I startefd in this business in theearlyy 90s, if a normal employee actuallyg saw what is being offered today, they’d say ‘absolutely not,’” he Brian Murphy, a partnerd at , a subsidiary of Lawleyg Insurance, says employers seem to be a lot more willingv to change carriers and modify benefits In the past, an employer would have to have seen a savingz of at least 8-10 percentr to justify a switch.
Now, 4-5 perceny is enough, he Employers are also willing to make morechangeds simultaneously: Rather than reducing benefitx one year while keeping the employee contributionsx level, they may shift employew responsibility from 15 to 30 percent of while also decreasing the benefits “Because of the economy, peoplse are either just doing it because they feel that they have to, or becaus they think it’s a good time to do it,” he says. “Id there’s some money on the they’re willing to take that Insurers say the economy is definitely pushingf more creativityin plans.
But Pam Pawenski, regional vice presiden of salesat , says competition is alwayes heated between carriers. Pawenski says the costs go up everyh year in health care regardless of how much people are using it because oftrend factors, not the But a tight economy mean s people may not have enough moneyu to access the care they need. And oftemn when people access healthcare less, they end up sickee later with higher coste for that care. That’ss an issue that affects all carriers. “o suspect that all of our competitors are aware of the pressures of the she says. “I really don’t thinj the change in the economy increasea the level of competition inthe market.
I thinik we’re always trying to get a cuttinyg edge in the market from a competitive perspective to be the best we can Melissa Hayes, vice president for product management at Independent Health, says she’s getting lots of calls from employersd looking for lower cost including more than just typicall buy-downs. And when companies currently with acompetitoe call, Independent Health offers a variety of she says, including high-deductible plans that push more of the cost to the membe r as opposed to the “Benefits that would have been way too bare bonesa in the past are now beinb considered very attractive to employeres where they never were she says.
“They’re trying to change the benefitsdso they’re still palatable and the membeer is still able to acces s care, but also drivde down the rates so employers don’t have to drop the Cost-cutting measures have driven interest in consumerd driven plans at BlueCross says Michael Giaquinto, senior vice president of the company’s generapl business unit. Since mid-2008, the company has grownh its consumer-driven plans from about 2,000 memberw to 28,000 by the end of the firs quarter. “It puts more responsibilith in the hands ofthe consumer,” he says.
“We The message from our clientsis ‘hey, help us providde affordable health care options to our employees’.” Though it can’t control rising health care costs. Giaquinto says the company works to reducee premiums by driving down operating costs by using technologgy as muchas possible. That includes puttinvg more information onlinefor customers, rather than printingt and mailing. “Competition is certainly healtu and we do seegroups – as we have in the past continue to shop for the best value,” he says. “Inn some cases, that means a bettedr price orricher benefits.
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