Dive Brief:
- Employers, stuck in the never-ending process of cutting costs related to employee healthcare, continue to eliminate spousal coverage if the non-employee spouse can obtain healthcare benefits at their own workplace, according to a new study cited at Employee Benefits News.
- Actuarial firm Conrad Siegel reports that in 2015, a regional survey of 110 employers located primarily in central Pennsylvania found that 52% of participants no longer offer coverage to spouses of employees eligible for workplace health care coverage elsewhere. In 2014, only 31% of companies reported taking that step.
- The survey also found that of the employers that may still offer healthcare benefits to all spouses, more are using surcharges to encourage spouses to get healthcare elsewhere. Among the employers doing that, the number jumped from 16% to 27% in one year.
Dive Insight:
Consulting actuary Rob Glus of Conrad Siegel told EBN that his company has done the same survey for 13 years, and typically the employers polled have not been as quick to try and cull spouses from healthcare benefits programs, when compared to national trends. But that's changed, he adds, as his firm's results now match national trends. A Willis Towers Watson survey earlier this year reported on the growing trend, and there are numerous media reports indicating spousal coverage may be in danger.
“Employers are getting hit with healthcare cost increases every year,” Glus told EBN. “They have made benefit changes and reduced deductibles, but eventually there comes a point where they don’t always want to impose these cost-cutting measures uniformly across all of their employees.
He adds that other strategies, such as increasing deductibles or reducing health savings account contributions, are all indicative of the same problem. “Healthcare costs keep on going up and employers are looking for plan design changes that will reduce the impact on their bottom line," he told EBN.