Employers Forced to Cut Benefits

 

Rising employee health-care costs are prompting some employers to reduce benefits, according to a new survey.

Among 230 financial executives polled, 81 percent said health-care costs were up significantly in the past year, according to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, a New York-based trade group. About a quarter of respondents said employees will end up shouldering more of these costs. Others strategies included offering high-deductible consumer-driven plans, changing health-care providers, or reducing the level of employee benefits, the survey found.

Employee health-care costs have risen by 5 to 20 percent in the past year alone, respondents said.

"Most organization are trying a variety of strategies," John Marrow, the group's vice president for business, industry, and government, said in a statement. "The executives we polled all share concerns about the price of health care, whether they're companies with less than 25 employees or more than a thousand."

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