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Findley Davies Announced the Results of Its 10th Annual Health Care Trend Survey

Posted on: Wednesday, 4 October 2006, 15:00 CDT

TOLEDO, Ohio, Oct. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Findley Davies, Inc. today announced the results of its 10th annual health care trend survey of major health insurance carrier underwriters. The survey asked for the medical and prescription drug trend factors to be used in January 1, 2007 health insurance and prescription drug plan renewals.

Findley Davies reported the following key results and observations for 2007:

- The average 2007 trend rate for Medical and Prescription Drugs is 11%; - Medical and Prescription Drug trend rates have not only continued to moderate, but have also converged; - Projected enrollment in consumer-driven health plans is lackluster; and - Reported results on the effectiveness of wellness and condition management programs are not encouraging

The 2007 Medical and Prescription Drug trend rate of 11% is down from a combined 13% that Findley Davies reported in its Trend Survey for 2006. While an 11% annual trend factor is good news, it is nearly triple projected 2007 wage and salary increases.

Although most responding carriers are not projecting significant enrollment growth in their consumer-driven health plans, this by no means spells the end for consumerism. Findley Davies expects most employers will be working hard to educate, equip, empower, and engage their employees to become better health care consumers and to take charge of their health care decisions.

Few carriers reported on the effectiveness of their wellness and condition management programs. Findley Davies believes carriers must be held accountable for not only tracking and measuring results, but also in making necessary program changes to drive participation and behavior modification.

As part of its full 2007 Trend Survey report, Findley Davies provided Ten Tips for Controlling Health Care Costs in 2007. Recommendations include investigating care coordination, evaluating eligibility policies and contribution philosophies, re-structuring pharmacy benefit arrangements to optimize generics and to focus formularies on less expensive brands, and investing in employee education and decision support tools to drive consumerism.

The full report is available for download at http://www.findleydavies.com/. About Findley Davies

Findley Davies is an independent, fee for service human resources consulting, actuarial and administrative services firm specializing in health and group benefits, retirement plans, compensation and rewards management, communication solutions and HR sourcing and technology. Since the firm's founding, Findley Davies is committed to serving its clients with an uncommon level of personalized service and consulting excellence. For more information please visit our website at http://www.findleydavies.com/ or contact us at one of our offices below:

Charlotte 704.372.9331 Cleveland 216.875.1900 Greensboro 336.271.2009 Toledo 419.255.1360 About the Author

Bruce Davies is located in the Toledo Office and is the National Health and Group Benefits Practice Leader. He can be reached at 419.327.4133 or bdavis@findfleydavies.com

Findley Davies

CONTACT: Gary Thieman of Findley Davies, +1-419-327-4125, orgthieman@findleydavies.com

Web site: http://www.findleydavies.com/

Source: PRNewswire

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