United Benefit Advisors Survey Reports
Employer Opinions on Health Care Benefits
Despite concerns about the impact of rising health care costs on their businesses and employees, only one in six employers (16.3 percent) say they favor a federally tax-funded universal health care system, according to the 2011 UBA Benefit Opinions Survey.
The survey was conducted in February 2011 through the joint effort of more than 140 independent advisory firms that comprise United Benefit Advisors. Member firms invited clients and area employers to complete the web-based survey, and the resulting database contains the responses of 1,280 employers.
Nearly all (99.4 percent) top decision makers are concerned with the impact health care costs are having or are going to have on their overall corporate costs, and more than 50 percent said it is a critical concern. Just slightly fewer (97.9 percent) are also concerned with the impact health care costs are having on their employees, up nearly 20 percent from three years ago and nearly identical to last year. These results were consistent regardless of industry, employee size category or geographic region.
Additional findings presented in the survey include:
• Employers that still believe a good benefits program helps attract good employees represented 96.9 percent of the respondents, while 93.8 percent believe good benefits keep employees from leaving.
• Employers are less prepared to meet the legislative and regulatory requirements placed upon them, and those requirements are becoming increasingly complex.
• Nearly three-quarters of the employers responding felt there is a definite role for the federal government to play regarding health—requiring the disclosure of cost and quality information of hospitals and physicians.
The UBA 2011 Benefit Opinions Survey includes employer perspectives on health care strategy, benefits philosophy and opinion, health plan management, personal health management, scope of benefits offered, and employee communications.
The 2011 UBA Benefit Opinion Survey complements the 2010 UBA Health Plan Survey and is the nation’s largest comprehensive and validated survey of plan design and costs, with responses from 17,113 health plans sponsored by 11,413 employers representing a large number of industries and various size categories nationwide.
United Benefit Advisors is a member-owned alliance of more than 140 premier independent benefit advisory firms with more than 165 offices throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
For more information go to www.ubabenefits.com or to see a short video about further findings of the survey go to: http://wn.ubabenefits.com/Home/Video/tabid/2789/Default.aspx?ResourceID=7821.
