December 5, 2018 by Louise Norris
Health care is constantly evolving and
innovating — a fact that can either overwhelm or energize small business
owners. Let’s take a look at four health care trends that have marked 2019.
1. Value-Based Care Is
Starting to Replace the Fee-for-Service Model
While health care isn’t due to get cheaper
overall, the transition from fee-for-service payment models to value-based care
may allow business owners and their employees to find cost-effective solutions
for getting care. There are several different approaches to value-based care,
but they all center on the idea that health care providers should be paid based
on the overall quality, efficiency and outcome of their care as opposed to
being paid for each separate service that they perform.
With the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services instigated the push toward
value-based care for Medicare. Private insurers followed
suit. Almost two-thirds of health care payments are
now value-based instead of fee-for-service.
2. Telemedicine Is
Gaining Popularity
Like value-based care, the use of telemedicine
has skyrocketed over the past few years, and it shows no signs of slowing down.
In one survey, health care provider executives said that telemedicine is
the technology they expect to have the biggest impact in the near future.
Meanwhile, SHRM found that over half of
employers made providing more virtual care options to employees their top
health care priority in 2019.
3. Employers Are
Offering More CDHPs — But Not Alone
Consumer-driven health plans (CDHPs) are
entering the spotlight in American workplaces. These plans pair a
high-deductible payment model with a pretax account — funded by the employer,
employee or both — that employees can use to pay for out-of-pocket medical
costs. Health savings accounts (HSAs) first became available in 2004, and
enrollment in HSA-qualified health plans has
grown steadily every year since.
Enrollment in CDHPs is expected to continue to
increase. Plans with higher deductibles help employers keep premiums at a
manageable level, and employees are becoming more aware of the triple tax advantage of HSAs.
Millennials — the largest segment of the U.S. labor force —
are increasingly opting for HSA-qualified health plans.
But while the popularity of CDHPs continues to
grow, the number of employers offering only a CDHP actually decreased from 39%
to 30% in 2019, according to SHRM. This is partly because the ACA’s
so-called Cadillac tax on
high-cost plans (which employers can avoid by offering lower-cost plans like
CDHPs) has been delayed again, until 2022. So, for the time being, employers
don’t need to worry about facing a steep excise tax on high-cost plans and are
comfortable adding those plans back to their suite of offerings for employees.
4. Technology Is
Driving Employer Health and Benefits Initiatives
Which aspect of health, wellness or insurance
management do you or your employees need the most help with? There’s probably
an app for that. Brokers and insurers rely more and more on apps to make it
easier for employers and employees to manage their enrollment and coverage.
Effectively communicating benefits options to
employees before and during open enrollment is a perpetual challenge for
employers, but technology is making it easier. After employees make their plan
selections for the year, a plethora of apps are
available to help them home in on how they can lead healthier lives.
It’s impossible to predict the exact future
trends in health care for 2020, but these four 2019 health care trends are sure
to be guiding forces for everyone involved, from insurers and providers to
employers and their workforces.
This content is provided solely for
informational purposes. It is not intended as and does not constitute legal
advice. The information contained herein should not be relied upon or used as a
substitute for consultation with legal, accounting, tax and/or other
professional advisers.
No comments:
Post a Comment