Benefits Benchmarking Webinar: What To Do With the Data

If you’re designing your company’s employee benefits program, you want to know what your peers and competitors are offering. Employee retention and talent acquisition are largely dependent on whether you offer a benefits package that meets or exceeds the standards of your industry, location and company size while managing costs in an increasingly expensive market for healthcare and pharmaceuticals.  

That’s why Alera Group places a high priority on using benchmarking data and analysis to inform and otherwise serve our clients.  

• Case in point No. 1: our fifth annual Healthcare and Employee Benefits Benchmarking Report.  
• Case in point No. 2: Benchmarking for the Win: How Does Your Benefits Program Rate?, the Engage webinar we recorded after the report's July release.  

About the webinar 

In the webinar, we discuss five key findings from our survey of more than 5,000 employers nationwide: 

1. Within the realm of healthcare in general, Medical plan rates continue to rise, though Dental Insurance rates remain steady. 
2. Increasing numbers of employers are offering tiered levels of coverage for prescription drugs, in large part to contain costs associated with specialty medications. 
3. The strategy of offering tiers of pharmacy plans extends to benefits in general, as employers provide a greater range of choices, including voluntary, or supplemental, benefits. 
4. Self-funding is an increasingly popular alternative solution for managing healthcare benefits, particularly among organizations with more than 100 employees. 
5. Variations in eligibility are greater than ever, based primarily on industry, company size and location. In the technical services sector, to cite one broad example, 25% of new employees become benefits-eligible on their date of hire. In contrast, manufacturers tend to delay benefit eligibility as a means of controlling costs, as only 7% offer benefits on the date of hire.  

Because benchmarking and plan design are most effective when customized ― the more employer-specific the data analysis, the more reliable the findings ― we’ll also discuss resources including:  

• Fact sheets providing statistics by industry for sectors including education, healthcare, manufacturing and more; 
• The opportunity to meet with a local Alera Group office for a consultation including analysis of data specific to your business. 

Joining me as presenters are Alera Group colleagues: 

• Sally Prather, Executive Vice President, Employee Benefits 
• Marcy Updike, National Director, Market Research. 

Together, we provide a deeper understanding of what your peers and competitors are offering, and help you use that information to your company’s advantage. 

Cost containment 

Because data is only useful if you know what to do with it ― as we discussed in our previous Engage webinar, Optimize Your Benefits: A Three-Pronged Approach ― we look not only at what businesses like yours are offering but also at how they’re attempting to contain costs.  

What kinds of companies are self-funding? Who’s offering tiered pharmacy benefits? And how much are employees at companies in your industry contributing to their group plan? 

You’ll come away from the webinar with answers to those questions and insights that will inform your strategy as you work on a benefits program that will reward your employees, attract prospective hires and keep your offerings cost-effective. 

VIEW THE WEBINAR 

About the author 

Danielle Capilla 
Vice President of Compliance, Employee Benefits 
Alera Group 

Danielle Capilla’s areas of expertise include healthcare and employee benefit compliance, with an emphasis on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Additionally, she regularly works with issues regarding Section 125 plans, COBRA, ERISA, Medicare, HIPAA and consumer-driven healthcare plans. Danielle earned her JD in Health Law from DePaul University College of Law. Her background in law enables her to simplify complex topics, helping clients navigate the intertwined landscape of healthcare regulation and benefit plans.  

Contact information: 

• danielle.capilla@aleragroup.com 
• Connect with Danielle on LinkedIn