Many Employers Not Considering Private Exchanges

According to the Corporate Synergies Quick Poll, 58.3% of respondents consider cost containment to be their biggest health benefits concern. Educating employees about available benefits came in second at 27.8%.

Though human resource professionals recognized cost containment and employee education as critical issues, 40% said their organizations would not consider implementing a private exchange.

“History shows us that adoption of new ideas in employee benefits takes time: even when something isn’t delivering what you need, it’s hard to break old habits. We’re convinced that, over time, private exchanges will become an obvious solution for employers with the twin goals of controlling costs and helping their employees become smarter healthcare consumers,” said John Turner, CEO and president of Corporate Synergies, based in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey.

The poll also found that with open enrollment beginning and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) becoming a reality, 48.6% of respondents said they are ready and planning to be fully PPACA-compliant in 2014. On the other hand, 45.7% said they slowed down their preparations when the “play or pay” mandate was pushed to 2015, but are still in good shape.

The poll surveyed 40 human resource professionals and benefits managers from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and Virginia companies with up to 10,000 employees.

Corporate Synergies is a national full-service employee benefits and business insurance brokerage and consulting firm. More information is at http://www.corpsyn.com.