A joint Aon Consulting/Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists survey finds that 45% of American employers now have consumer-driven health plans (CDHPs), up from 37% last year.
Of those companies surveyed with CDHPs, the goals for having them range from introducing “consumerism” into the purchasing of healthcare (36%) and controlling rising healthcare costs (35%), to providing a vehicle for retiree medical savings (3%) and encouraging better use of healthcare services (2%).
As for employee participation, 24% of employers have between 11% and 35% enrollment; 17% have between 36% and 60% enrollment; and 20% have more than 60% enrollment.
Conversely, employers believe workers do not enroll in CDHPs due to concerns of high out-of-pocket costs (59%); traditional plan design preference (18%); lack of knowledge about the plans (9%); and a perception that CDHPs are too complex (6%).
“Despite this initial success, there’s still a long way to go for CDH programs to realize their full impact,” says John Zern, Aon’s U.S. health and benefits practice director. “Many companies with CDHPs don’t communicate them in the most effective manner to maximize enrollment. Time and again, we’re seeing the highest enrollment among those organizations that invest in a well-constructed communication strategy.”
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Companies Worried About Losing Top Talent
While the economic slowdown may be making it easier for employers to attract and retain workers, many companies remain worried about losing their top talent.
A survey by Watson Wyatt and WorldatWork finds that employers can help prevent the untimely exodus of top workers by taking an integrated approach to reward and talent management.
According to the survey, companies that take an integrated approach are 20% less likely than other companies to experience problems attracting critical-skill employees and 25% less likely to have problems attracting top-performing employees.
Additionally, those companies that take an integrated approach to reward and talent management are 33% less likely to have trouble retaining critical-skill employees and 18% less likely to have difficulty keeping top-performing employees.
“No single reward or talent management program by itself effectively links individual performance to an organization’s larger business goals,” says Laura Sejen, global director of strategic rewards consulting at Watson Wyatt. “The answer lies in integration.”
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BNY Mellon Announces Job Cuts
The Bank of New York Mellon will reduce its global workforce by approximately 4%, or 1,800 positions.
“It has become clear that we need to take additional steps beyond our merger synergies to reduce expenses, given the current weakness in the global economy,” says the company’s chairman and chief executive officer, Robert Kelly.
He adds that the BNY Mellon will take advantage of attrition to lessen the impact on existing staff.
The asset management and securities servicing firm employs 43,000 people.
CIBC Mellon, which is jointly owned by CIBC and BNY Mellon, is not affected by the cuts.