Primary business issues for employers, 2008 versus 2007.

Percentage of employers offering various wellness programs, 2005 to 2007.

Percentage of organizations that have been "very effective" or "moderately effective" at managing the costs of active employees in selected areas, 2007.

Health services utilization by members of comprehensive major medical and consumer-driven health plans, by service and plan type, 2006.

Enrollment in consumer-directed health plans, in millions, 2006-2007.

Comparison of health information tools offered by employers, by CDHP status, 2007.

Employer satisfaction with different approaches to integration, 2007.

Influence of health plan features on consumers' choice of health plan.

Percent of HSA/HDHP policies purchased that provide "first-dollar" coverage for preventive care, by market, 2007.

Average in-network PPO deductible, individual and family, 2000-2007.

Specific absence control programs and their average effectiveness, 2005-2007.

Major changes in health care usage resulting from cost increases, 2005 and 2007.

Reasons stated by consumers for not planning to open a health savings account, by percent of enrollees, 2007.

Total employee/employer health care costs, 2003 vs. 2008.

Projected medical, prescription drug, dental, and vision trends, 2007 and 2008.

Median PPO and CDHP plan benefits, 2007.

Characteristics of single-coverage small-group insurance plans in 2006 and 2003, and single-coverage individual plans in 2006, California.

Percentage increase in health insurance premiums, selected years 1988-2007 (estimated)

Health care trend rates for the 12-month rating periods beginning between April and September 2007.

Average member and plan sponsor cost for patented brand, off-patent brand, and generic products, by mail-order or community pharmacy for Plan A, by percent of payments.

Types of unique tiers that Part D providers have implemented for 2006 and plan to implement in 2007, by percentage.

Percent of adults ages 19-64 reporting problems in access to health care during past year because of cost, by gender and type of problem, 2004-2005.

Distribution of uninsured adults ages 19-64 by gender and work status.

Types of medical plans offered by employers, 2006, by percentage.

Employer health care cost-sharing initiatives, 2005-2007.

Healthy living programs offered by companies to employees, 2005 versus 2006.

Health care trend rates for active employees and retires under age 65, 2001-2006.

Average employer contributions to health savings accounts, by number of employees, 2005.

2005 share of premiums and growth trends.

Projected medical, prescription drug, dental, and vision trends: 2006 & 2007.

Top Health care priorities for the president and Congress to work on in 2007.

Annual change in average total health benefit cost, all employers, 1989-2006.

Percent of US physicians saying drug company ads provide useful information for patients, 2006.

Total employer/employee health care costs: 2002 and 2007.

Age-adjusted incidence rates for selected top cancer sites for each sex by race/ethnicity in selected areas in the United States, 1999-2003.

Percent of total health care expenses incurred by different percentiles of US population, 2002.

Total enrollment rate in consumer-driven health plans, managed care plans, and traditional plans, by plan type, 2006.

Annual medical costs for a US family of four, 2002 to 2006.

Annual rate of increase in medical index, 2002 to 2006.

Characteristics of consumers who do and those who don't research provider cost and/or quality online.

Specific prevention and wellness programs employers have in place or plan to have for their next plan year.

Trends in physician contracting and managed care revenue, 1996-97 through 2004-05.

Growth of HSA/HDHP enrollment from September 2004 to January 2006.

Percentage of people without health insurance, by state, 2005.

Prevalence of workplace wellness programs.

National cancer treatment expenditures in billions of dollars (1963-2004).

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have recently released new guidance for employers to notify CMS about whether their prescription drug coverage is creditable or non-creditable. Previously, CMS had issued guidance on how to determine if coverage is creditable and on how to notify employees about their coverage. It was previously noted that employers who provide prescription drug coverage to Medicare Part D eligible individuals (including all eligible employees, retirees, and dependents) would also need to disclose to CMS whether the prescription drug plans they offered were creditable or non-creditable. However, until recently, there was no guidance that stated how or when CMS would need to be notified. CMS has now issued guidance about the rules, form, manner, timing, and instructions for providing disclosure notices to CMS.

Medicare Part D Update - New Guidance and Upcoming Deadline for Employers (03-31-06)

Factors fueling rising healthcare costs The overall increase in premiums between 2004 and 2005 was 8.8%, which is 36% lower than the 13.7% increase reported in 2002. General inflation accounted for 27% of the 2005 increase in health insurance premiums. Increased utilization of services accounted for an estimated 43% of the increase. Price increases in excess of inflation for health care services accounted for the remaining 30% of the increase in health insurance premiums.

The factors fueling rising healthcare costs.

Use of prescription drugs during the preceding week among US adults by sex and age. We already know that a large proportion of the U.S. population takes prescription drugs, but until now, usage data could only be obtained from dispensed prescription sales, the sources of which are typically proprietary. These figures do not measure use by individual patients. With the Slone Survey, put out by the Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University, we now see that during the course of one week, prescription drugs are taken by 55% of the population, with 11% taking at least five. The heaviest users are women 65 and older: 85% use prescription drugs; 29% take at least five medications a week.

Use of prescription drugs during the preceding week among US adults by sex and age.

Average health care plan cost increases, 1995-2005.

Employers' assessment of effects of higher cost sharing, 2002 versus 2004.

Selected benefits chosen as "most important" by full-time employees, 2004 versus 2003.

Per capita growth in health care spending and gross domestic product (GDP), 2000-2004.

Annual health care trend survey: reductions in 2005 health care trend factors no cause for celebration.

Predictive insights on selected health care issues during President George W. Bush's second term.

Employee reactions to employer health care cost-control actions, by percentage, 2004.

Employer versus employee views on how effective employees are as health care consumers, by percentage, 2004.

Ways in which health care plan design has changed.

Average benefits and premiums for average worker by firm size, 2003.

Top five employer benefit priorities for 2004 / Top five employee benefit priorities for 2004.

National health expenditures (NHE), aggregate and per capita amounts, and share of gross domestic product (GDP), selected calendar years 1998-2013.

Drug trend for 2003 through 2005 by formulary chapters.

Reasons reported for change of primary care physician in the past 5 years, by percentage of respondents.

Employers Tackle FMLA Issues.

Medical Benefit Costs - Average Employer Payment.

Medical Benefit Costs - Average Employer Payment.

Infection Day Work Three-shift work Five-shift work Irregular shift work Common Cold 53% 57.5% 51.0% 55.5 Flue-like illness 22.4 31.2 22.1 30.5 Gastroenteritis 11.8 18.2 15.4 15.15 Source: Mohren et al., Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, November 2002

Prevalence of common infections among different work schedules.

Medical trend factors, second half 2002, by type of health plan.

The most costly conditions in the United States: national expenditures, bed days, work-loss days and activity impairments, 1996.

Which type of health plan offers the most effective approach for managing costs and maintaining quality care?

Employer costs per hour worked for employee benefits as a percentage of total benefits costs, private industry workers, March 2002.

SOURCE: KAISER FAMILY10 FOUNDATION, APRIL 2002

Percentage of small businesses offering health insurance that switched plans in the past two years.

Employers' cost-sharing strategies. Percentage of employers planning:
Strategy	Aggressive increases	Moderate increases	No increases
Prescription drug copays	30%	46%	24%
Dependent contributions	28	64	8
Employee contributions	23	67	11
Out-of-network cost-sharing	19	31	50
Deductibles	10	45	45
Physician office visit copays	9	50	41
Out-of-pocket-limits	9	39	53
Hospital copays	8	38	54
Coinsurance percentages	7	31	62
Shifts from copays to coinsurances	6	23	71
NOTE: Totals may not equal 100% due to rounding
SOURCE: HEWITT ASSOCIATES LLC, JANUARY 2002

Employers' cost-sharing strategies.

The Seven C's of Worksite Wellness According to WELCOA, there are seven basic steps to building a "Well Workplace." Concentrate on senior level support. Create cohesive wellness teams. Collect data to drive health efforts. Craft an operating plan. Choose appropriate interventions. Create a supportive environment. Consistently evaluate outcomes. For additional information, visit their website, www.welcoa.org.

The Seven C's of Worksite Wellness.

Approaches used by employers to control the cost of health care benefits.1 Adopted during past two years Considered adopting in future Changed plan design and cost-sharing features 59% 18% Introduced three-tier copay 48 16 Online benefit enrollment 41 25 Consolidated health plan options 31 15 Employee self-service 30 29 Human resources manager self-service 28 14 Replaced HMO/POS with open-access PPO 25 6 Managed competition 15 9 Defined contribution 3 15 Consumer-driven health plan options 1 13 1Multiple responses permitted SOURCE: TOWERS PERRIN, DECEMBER 2001

Approaches used by employers to control the cost of health care benefits.

Evidence presented at this week's meeting of the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association suggests three-tier copays can yield hefty prescription drug savings without jeopardizing employee health. A study filed at the PBM summit by Express Scripts compared the utilization and expenditures of PPO populations over 24 months. Two groups started with a $7/$12 (generic/brand-name drug) two-tier copay arrangement. At the 12-month mark, a test group implemented a $8/$15/$25 (generic/preferred brands/non-preferred brands) three-tier design. Finding: Overall payer costs in the test group dropped 17.1%, with 9.9% of the savings attributed to increased member cost-sharing, followed by lower utilization, 5.3%, and lower ingredient cost, 1.9%. Emergency room visits and hospitalizations showed no change. For more information, visit the Express Scripts web site at http://www.express-scripts.com/other/news_views/recap_motheral.htm.

Study: Three-tier copays shrink Rx payer costs

National Association of Health Underwriters Provides Information on Rights and Options Arlington, VA, November 29 -- As Americans in the military reserves are called up for active duty, a number of laws are in place to protect their health benefits and to provide additonal access to health insurance. According to the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU), men and women reservists and members of the National Guard have guaranteed rights that5 provide for the continuation of their health coverage or offer other health care options for their families. "Many reservists are already facing financial strain as they leave their current employment for extended duty," said James Trautwein, director of federal policy analysis for NAHU. "They need not be plagued with concerns about their family's health care benefits as well." NAHU offered some options available to America's military reservists and guardsmen: •USERRA (the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act) provides for health continuation similar to that found in COBRA. Men and women in the military can ccontinue their benefits for up to 18 months after they depart for active duty, but unlike COBRA, even those who work for employers with less than 20 employees are covered; •TRICARE, the miltary's health care system, may be accessible to reservists depending on their length of servise. If they serve for more than 30 days, for example, their family members have access to some of the benefits and facilities of the military's system. If they serve for more than 180 days, the level of benefits through TRICARE rises. •Pension contributions are another option that reservists should consider. To explore additional health coverage possibilities for reservists and their families, NAHU recommends several website resources: http://www.dol.gov/dol/vets and http://askpwba.dol.gov/091101faz.html. A further source of information about benefit options or to find health insurance advisors in local areas around the country is www.nahu.org.

Health Benefits for Military Reservists.

SOURCE: Harris Interactive, Health Care News, October 9, 2001

Percentage of employers likely to make the following health benefit changes in the next two years.

For Reservist Employees and Their Dependents "The majority of employers [we] surveyed have compensation policies (80%) and medical policies (74%) in place for reservists. More than half (60%) of employers plan to institute differential pay policies for some period of time to make up the difference between regular and military pay. Nearly half (47%) report they will exceed the COBRA/USERRA statutory minimum coverage for reservists and their dependents. These benefits are often provided for more than five months and, in some cases, more than nine months."

SOURCE: SURVEY RESULTS: EMPLOYER RESPONSE TO CALL-UP OF RESERVIST EMPLOYEES AND RELATED HR ISSUES, WATSON WYATT WORLDWIDE (10/03/01). TEXT OF THIS REPORT IS AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET WEB SITE: www.watsonwyatt.com/reservistreport

How Organizations Will Handle Medical Benefits For Reservist Employees and Their Dependents

SOURCE: TOTAL HEALTH ADVOCACY PARTNERS, ANDERSEN AND CALIFORNIA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM, AUGUST 2001

Techniques used by employers to deal with rising health care costs.

As the U.S. military plans a response to last Tuesday's attacks, employers should be prepared to comply with employment laws in the event workers are called to military duty. There are certain benefits requirements employers must adhere to as set down by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA). USERRA grants individuals on active duty and in select other categories the right to ask for re-employment upon return from military service for up to five years. USERRA also requires employers to offer specific pension, health and other benefits to workers on military leave and to re-employed veterans. USERRA stipulates that DB and contributory DB plans credit service and fund benefits for re-employed veterans. With respect to DC plans, employers are required to retroactively make up DC allocations for returning veterans for each plan year in which the veteran would have worked for the employer. Employers must provide COBRA-like health benefit continuation coverage to participants on military leave. Visit the DOL's USERRA description Web page at: http://www.dol.gov/elaws/USERRAO.htm for further details.

Employers urged to review military service employment laws.