Dive Brief:

• As a way to slow their healthcare costs, some companies are levying “per child” charges rather than per family for health benefits, writes Bruce Japsen for Forbes. These charges may appear in the form of higher premiums and surcharges.
• Aon Hewitt said that its annual survey of employers showed that 43% of companies are considering what consultants call “unitized pricing,” which would ultimately mean that larger families would pay more – several hundred dollars a month more, in some cases.
• Mercer also saw a rise in “per dependent” contributions, telling Japsen that the use of “per dependent” contributions is “rising fastest among very large employers with 10,000 or more workers,” up to 6% from 3% between 2014 and 2015.

Dive Insight:

While currently only the very large employers are seeing much change in this area, Mercer’s head of research and health benefits told Japsen that these employers “tend to be the trendsetters.” That means unitized or “per-unit” contributions may rise in the coming years.

"It’s common, for example, that an employee with single coverage does not pay the same amount as an employee that has coverage for his or her family," Jim Winkler, chief innovation officer at Aon Hewitt’s Aon Health division, told Japsen. "Now, employers are breaking down that family coverage even further and asking, ‘Should a family of four pay the same for coverage as a family of eight?'"

Both Mercer and Aon use information from employers that use some of the biggest names in the business for benefits, including Aetna, Anthem, Cigna, UnitedHealth Group and Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans.