Industry Report
HR’s 2022 Healthcare Agenda
HR leaders and decision makers are seeking out more flexibility and better plan designs to gain control over rising costs. Maestro Health surveyed 600 HR decision-makers, ranging from manager to executive titles, to learn more about their predictions for the upcoming plan year and beyond.
Here’s what we found.
As employers assess plan performance over the past year and look ahead at what’s coming down the pipeline for 2022, plan flexibility, transparency and expanding health plan services rank among HR’s top focuses for the year ahead.
A majority of our respondents (94%) said they expect costs to continue to rise (not a surprise), but the data suggests that health plan decision makers are taking a closer look at risk factors contributing to this year’s increases and what strategies they can deploy to get ahead of the costs.
That’s not surprising, considering just how top of mind health and benefits have been over the past two years.
What is new, however, is that 71% of HR respondents said they’re considering switching health plans or administrators in 2022, citing dissatisfaction with their current plan’s lack of flexibility and custom service as top reasons for looking for a new option.
It’s likely that we’ll see self-funded and level-funded plan designs gain popularity as HR decision makers look to address rising costs with more plan designs that put more control back into the employers’ hands rather than sticking with the once-safe off-the-shelf options many traditional insurers offer.
And as the industry begins to shift to tackle the effects of delayed care, these priorities will become even more critical to address what’s sure to be a tough claim year for everyone.
Over the past few years, many employers have opted for fully insured plans as a way to provide stability in the midst of the rapid changes brought on by the pandemic. However, as employers become used to managing their plan through the pandemic landscape, they may be more willing to pivot to a plan that allows them to be less reactionary and more deliberate with strategic decisions to manage costs.
We provide a deeper dive of our findings, including key stats and themes, in our mBLOG.
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