|
Employees Happy with Health BenefitsPosted: 4/13/2007Although most individuals resist change, research findings released today by the National Business Group on Health show employees are most resistant to changing anything about their health benefits.
 Despite rising costs, a majority of U.S. workers say they are very satisfied with their employer-provided health care benefits, consider the health plan to be their most important benefit and have little interest in purchasing coverage on their own. About 75% of employees value their health benefits as most important, and 67% of employees consider their health plan to be excellent or very good. Workers also place high value on having a health plan that is easy to manage, allows freedom to choose doctors and limits their cost when they visit a doctor or get a prescription.
So highly do employees covet health coverage, they are not willing to make trade-offs or changes to other aspects of total compensation if it would affect their health coverage. About six in ten workers are not too willing to reduce their health benefits in order to improve their retirement benefits. Further, most 83% would rather see their salary or retirement benefit reduced in order to preserve health benefits.
“This is the highest that employees have ever valued health benefits, and they should because it’s never been more costly,” says Helen Darling, NBGH president. For employers considering changes to their health plans next year, “communication has never been more important. Employers need to communicate effectively exactly what employees are gaining and giving up, and how much of health cost increases employers actually are absorbing,” she adds.
|
 |
|
