This Week's Herman Trend Alert The Consequences of Virtual Meetings

The Herman Trend Alert June 28, 2006 Healthcare Costs Continue to Rise According to Mercer's recently released 2005 National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans, United States employers are expected to spend an average of $7,564 per employee in 2006 for health benefits. This number represents an increase of 6.7 percent over the amount of $7,089 paid in 2005. The increase between 2004 and 2005 amounted to 6.1 percent. When we look at the 7.5 percent increase between 2003 and 2004 and the 14.7 percent increase between 2002 and 2003, the 6.7 percent does not seem like a lot. However, when compared to the previous year, we notice that the rate of increase grew by more than 10 percent. The "Health Benefit Cost per Employee" includes all medical, dental, drugs and other health benefits for all employees and dependents. It also includes contributions from employers as well as employees. It does not include out-of-pocket deductibles, co-pays or coinsurance. The Mercer study concludes that the rise in healthcare costs has been slowed by four factors: Care Management, i.e. disease management programs and complex and case management; reduction in health plan alternatives, i.e. dropping health maintenance organizations, and looking at other less expensive alternatives, etc.; drug management, i.e., encouraging the use of generic pharmaceuticals and instituting a three- and four-tier system where the co-payment is variable, depending on the age and cost of the medications; and finally, the Consumerism Movement, including Consumer Driven Health Plans (CDHPs). CDHPs may include higher deductibles, flexible spending accounts, and the new Medical Savings Accounts. While the purpose is purported to reduce costs for the consumer, these plans are usually designed to reduce costs for the employer as well. Also, the trend in healthcare is towards higher co-payments to discourage excessive visits to doctors. What will the future bring in healthcare? For the United States, expect increasingly higher health costs and more attempts at interventions like care management. For countries that have universal healthcare, as your populations age, your resources will be stretched more and more. Finally, on a more hopeful note, the developed countries will provide more pharmaceuticals to the developing countries to attack the AIDS and other epidemics. © Copyright 1998- by The Herman Group, Inc. -- reproduction for publication is encouraged, with the following attribution: From "The Herman Trend Alert," by Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurists. (800) 227-3566 or http://www.hermangroup.com. The Herman Trend Alert is a trademark of The Herman Group, Inc." BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND: RETENTION SPECIALIST PROGRAM A growing number of people have expressed an interest in attending our Employee Retention Specialist Certificate Program. We'd like to schedule on that's convenient for those who want to attend, but need your feedback to do so. Please place RETENTION SPECIALIST in the subject line and Joyce will personally call you back to schedule the workshop. Or you can call Joyce directly at 336-210-3548 (PDT this and next week). BUSINESS IS PICKING UP Most employers are unprepared. The recovery will bring a new set of challenges for employers that have been in prolonged contracted mode. They will need more skilled workers or will need now to begin to upskill their current staffs. But organizations can not engage in Strategic Workforce Planning, when they don't know how. That's where The Herman Group can help. We can help you with your "People Review"----large or small---so that you will know who you will need and when you will need them. . . and we can also guide you to the best sources for the people you will need. For more information, call Joyce at 336-210-3548 or e-mail joyce@hermangroup.com. FIND OUT WHAT YOUR EMPLOYEES REALLY THINK AND FEEL Discover what’s really going on in the hearts and minds of your employees. Our InnerViews interviewing service uses SPHRs and PHRs, certified human resource professionals to probe for the information you really need to know. Exit and Stay Interviews, as well as Why-Didn't-You-Take-Our-Offer Interviews. Call Rosalie Catalano at 937-416-7066, or read more at: http://www.hermangroup.com/retentionconnection/exit_interviews.html. Herman Trend Alerts are produced by the Herman Group, strategic business futurists, Certified Management Consultants, authors, and professional speakers. New subscribers are welcome. There is no charge for this public service. The Herman Trend Alert is received by over 30,000 subscribers in 78 countries, in addition to other websites and printed magazines. Do you enjoy receiving this weekly e-mail update? Contact us about our co-branded Trend Alert service. Click here to sign up for the Herman Trend Alert. Subscribe or Unsubscribe to weekly Herman Trend Alert View this week's Herman Trend Alert Archived Weekly Herman Trend Alerts

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