Dive Brief:

• When asked what their biggest healthcare priority is for the next three years, 31% of employers answered "expanding benefit choices" in a Willis Towers Watson (WTW) survey. 
• However, WTW found that a majority of the survey's 535 respondents (54%) "don't have an effective listening strategy to understand the needs and wants of their employees."
• To help them make better choices, 74% have a plan to improve employees' ability to navigate their health care options over the coming three years. More than half of employers also want to prioritize training to educate staff on their benefits, WTW found.

Dive Insight:

With a multigenerational workforce the reality at many organizations, the needs of employees vary — and each staff member's health needs may be unique, as well. More employers are looking for health and wellness options that meet those needs and keep costs low, like telehealth options, centers of excellence and well-being initiatives. Almost half of workplaces in the U.S. offer some kind of wellness program, according to researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

A new rule from the Trump administration that's slated to take hold next year may help employers fund lower cost healthcare coverage by eliminating the need to shop around for group plans, HR Dive's sister publication Healthcare Dive reported. The rule would allow employers to put money in a pre-tax healthcare reimbursement account, which employees would then use to buy benefits either through the Affordable Care Act or from private health insurers.