2009 Health Care Cost Survey and Trends

Over the last two decades, the Towers Perrin Health Care Cost Survey has identified key
trends in health care — examining cost drivers, enrollment patterns, plan design, population
health, prescription drugs, retiree medical and other topics on an annual basis. During this
period, health care has changed dramatically, in ways that have challenged the industry to
evolve and innovate.

• Employers face an average 6% increase in health care costs in 2009, according
  to the Towers Perrin 2009 Health Care Cost Survey.
• High-performing companies have managed to hold increases to 5% or less. In dollar terms, low-performing companies expect average 2009 costs of $10,104 per employee, while high-performing companies will pay $8,904 — a difference of $1,200 per employee that can quickly translate into millions of dollars in savings for an average-size company

How can your company become a high performer and manage health care increases? Here are what some of the top performing companies are doing:

• Build the link between workforce health and business results
• Ensuring that key success factors, such as leadership involvement, are firmly in place
• Engaging employees and promoting a culture of health
• Investing in a broad range of existing and emerging health management programs and approaches
• Designing and pricing programs to create transparency and appropriate incentives
• Rigorously measuring program and vendor performance against goals
• Building action plans to address gaps and opportunities

Bottom Line: GOOD HEALTH MEANS GOOD BUSINESS

If you would like a complimentary copy of the 2009 Towers Perrin Health Care Cost Survey or if you would like to learn more about building and aligning health care strategies into your business, please contact me at katie@thefreemanagency.com .