A study examining what insurance policies 450 private and public colleges offered their employees in 2017 found a significant increase in high-deductible health plan offerings, according to Sibson Consulting.
Here are five things to know:
1. A dramatic increase in the number of colleges offering health plans with a deductible of $1,000 or more occurred in 2017. Nearly 72 percent of colleges offered HDHPs in 2017, up from 59 percent in 2015.
2. In 2017, HDHPs grew to represent more than a third of all medical plans offered by colleges.
3. In most cases, cost-sharing features like deductibles, copayments and employee contributions increased in 2017. The percentage increase in what employees contributed to medical coverage outpaced the increase in total medical and prescription drug costs, according to Sibson Consulting.
4. The consultants identified a significant increase in the prevalence of pharmacy cost-management programs. These included step-therapy programs and mandatory use of generic drugs.
5. "Higher education institutions understand that they can no longer afford to simply maintain a traditional approach to employee healthcare benefits and that they must now proactively address rising costs for their institutions and for their employees," the consultants wrote. "The dramatic increase in HDHPs is a direct result of institutions' desire to engage faculty and staff in the healthcare purchasing process to promote consumer awareness of the high cost of medical services."
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