Managing health care costs: back to basics Available to Purchase

The cost of employer‐sponsored health‐care benefits continues to increase at an alarming rate. In its 2002 Annual Survey of Employer Health Benefits, the Kaiser Family Foundation reports an annual rate of increase of 12.7 percent for employer‐sponsored health insurance costs. Kaiser’s findings are corroborated by the survey findings of the large employee benefit consulting firms. Mercer Human Resource Consulting reports an annual rate of increase of 14.7 percent in its recently‐released Mercer/Foster Higgins National Survey of Employer‐Sponsored Health Plans 2002. Most industry experts agree that employers will face double‐digit increases in their health care costs for at least the next three to five years.