Originally posted December 7, 2021. Written by Stephen Miller, CEBS
Three-quarters of health insurers say that managing a health plan’s network of care providers is critical to controlling rising medical costs.
The finding is from consultancy Willis Towers Watson’s 2022 Global Medical Trends Survey, conducted from July through September 2021 among 209 leading insurers globally.
The plan features mostly likely to keep costs under control, insurers said, were:
- Contracting with high-quality, cost-competitive doctors and hospitals for in-network coverage (cited by 75 percent of respondents).
- Requiring preapproval for scheduled inpatient services (67 percent).
- Offering telehealth services (63 percent).
Telehealth or virtual care rose to the third spot from the fifth position last year, “a sign that more insurers see potential savings from remote options for diagnosing and treating patients,” according to the report.
“Telehealth’s momentum will be sustained post-pandemic,” predicted Francis Coleman, managing director at Willis Towers Watson. “The role of telehealth will continue to evolve not only as a navigation tool to speed access to the right care but also as a means to close gaps in access to care.”
Factors Driving Costs Higher
Doctor and patient behaviors that are driving costs higher include overuse of care (64 percent), usually the result of medical professionals recommending too many services or overprescribing costly brand-name medications, according to the survey.
On the other hand, underuse of preventive services (38 percent) was also a significant cost driver and one that worsened year-over-year, due in part to the avoidance of medical care during the pandemic.
Costly Conditions
Insurers named the top three conditions by cost, identical to last year’s findings, as:
- Cancer.
- Cardiovascular disease.
- Musculoskeletal issues.
While respondents ranked musculoskeletal issues as the top condition by the number of claims this year, they ranked it fifth last year, possibly due to poor ergonomics in work-from-home environments, according to the report.
“COVID-19 has caused volatility in the trend numbers and in the leading causes of claims, as the sedentary lifestyle that often accompanies working from home has increased the risk of musculoskeletal injuries,” Coleman said.
“In addition, as most employers can attest, mental health claims are also on the rise,” he noted.
About 4 in 10 insurers predict mental health conditions will be among the three most common—and three most expensive—conditions affecting costs within the next 18 months.
Article from: https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/benefits/pages/health-plan-networks-are-key-to-controlling-cost-say-insurers.aspx