In reading through the sanofi-aventis Healthcare Survey 2007, a few key findings jumped out for me. Firstly, it is apparent that plan members value their health benefits so much that a majority would be willing to keep those benefits in lieu of an additional $20,000 per year in compensation. Furthermore, it appears that the long-standing entitlement mentality of plan members that has been a thorn in the side for plan sponsors may be softening with over ¾ of members feeling an obligation to help their employers control plan costs. Such sentiments will no doubt be well received by plan sponsors and allow for practical, meaningful plan design changes moving forward that benefit both parties.

Secondly, it appears that efforts on the part of employers to communicate various aspects of their health benefit plans to their members are not necessarily hitting the mark. While 86% of members indicated that their employer does a good to very good job of communicating what is covered/excluded by their plan, only 68% indicated that they understand their health benefits very to extremely well (down from 72% in 2005). Furthermore, it is clear that employers could be doing more to communicate actual plan costs to their members. When asked how much they thought their health benefit plans cost their employers each year, survey respondents were scattered across the spectrum from $0 to over $20,000.

It is in this last finding that I think there is a great opportunity, and need, for employers to engage their plan members in an overall plan management strategy. Educating employees on the cost of their benefits is the only way to foster an appreciation of their value and an understanding of the need to better manage plan costs moving forward to ensure long-term sustainability. Employees need to know what kind of trends their plan has been experiencing, and where plan costs are heading in the next 3-5 years before plan sponsors start looking to implement any plan design changes. Otherwise, the frame of reference for plan changes is missing, and such changes that may be necessary for the long-term sustainability of the plan will only be perceived as take-aways and met with push-back.

While some may question the effectiveness of such an approach, we have seen clients present such findings and projections to their members, only to be faced with the question, "Why didn't we know about this before?" With 78% of members feeling obligated to help out, now is the time to bring them into the loop and become part of the solution. This is by no means a charity exercise for plan members. If they can assist in controlling health care cost inflation, they save as well through lower out-of-pocket costs and less cost-shifting in the future. The key is presenting the objective numbers, and investing the time into accurate predictions of future spending based on the existing disease state and demographic profile of the group.

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