Johnson & Dugan : 2010 UBA health plan survey results

J&D participates in the nation's largest and most comprehensive benchmarking survey.

With responses from 17,113 health plans sponsored by 11,413 employers nationwide, the 2010 UBA Health Plan Survey is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive survey of plan design and plan costs. As the largest survey of its kind, the UBA Health Plan Survey defines benchmarks by a greater number of specific industries, regions and employer size categories than is available from any other resource.

The 2010 UBA Health Plan Survey was conducted October 1, 2009 to June 4, 2010, through the joint effort of 145 of the nation’s premier independent benefit advisory firms who comprise UBA. Member Firms, in conjunction with existing clients, completed responses, and additional area employers were invited to complete the web-based surveys.

While other surveys primarily target large employers, this survey focuses on reporting results that are applicable to the small to midsize companies who represent the overwhelming majority of the nation’s 5 million-plus employers, with a mix of larger companies in rough proportion to their prevalence nationally. Thus, this survey provides a current snapshot of the nation’s employers rather than covered employees. Its primary purpose is to provide accurate and relevant health plan benchmarks employers can use to help them make critical benefits decisions.

The purpose of the survey is to provide employers with comparative data regarding plan costs, employee contributions, and plan designs that will allow them to benchmark their plan against those of similar employers. That evaluation can be based on employers with similar numbers of employees, employers in a similar industry, or employers in a similar geographic area. The survey focuses solely on active employee and retiree health plans and directly related benefits (prescription drugs, HRA/HSA, and Section 125 plans) in order to derive the most useful results possible. A significant strength of this study is its unique ability to support subgroup analyses.

The national scope of the survey allows for regional, industry-specific, and employee size differentials to emerge from the data. In addition, the exceptionally large number of plans included allows for both a broader range of categories than normally reported and a larger number of respondents in each category. This is especially true for the small and midsize companies who comprise the overwhelming majority of health plans in the country.

Key statistics from the survey results:

CDHPs grew at a rate of 18.1 percent this past year (about half that of 2009), but they no longer cover more employees (12.4 percent) than HMO plans (15.4 percent). The average cost increase for all CDHPs at 7.3 percent was slightly lower than that of the average of all plan types, which increased 8.0 percent this year.

Employers often offset the higher out-of-pocket costs of CDHPs by offering employees a health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) or a health savings account (HSA) and contributing funds. The 2010 UBA Health Plan Survey found the average employer contribution to an HRA was $1,481 (up from $1,310 in 2009) for a single employee and $2,857 for a family (up from $2,502 in 2009).

Other key statistics from this year’s Survey results:

The average increase for all plan types was 8.0 percent.
PPO plans have nearly two-thirds of all enrolled employees (65.7 percent).
Fee For Service Plans will no longer be reported as the plans remaining are insufficient to develop legitimate benchmarks.
The average employee contribution for plans with contributions for all plan types is $113 for single and $443 for family.
More than three-fourths of all wellness plans (77.1 percent) offered a health risk assessment.
52.9 percent of all covered employees also elected to cover their dependents.

Contact J&D to receive more information.