CHARLESTON, S.C., May 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Benefitfocus,
Inc. (NASDAQ: BNFT), an industry-leading benefits technology
platform that simplifies benefits administration for employers,
health plans and brokers, has released the second in a series of
reports in its State of Employee Benefits™ 2021, in this case
focusing on the trends across midsize employer groups, defined as
employers with 100-999 employees.
The report explores how an evolving multi-generational workforce
and the impact of COVID-19 affected health care costs and health
plan design for midsize employers. It compares their response to
large employers (1,000+ employees) and the potential impact on
employees. The first report of the State of Employee Benefits 2021
series analyzed employee benefit plan design and participation for
large employers.
According to the latest report, midsize employers appear to have
kept health insurance offerings and premium cost-sharing trends
consistent since 2018, similar to the findings in the large
employer market. However, as large employers remained consistent in
their effort to increase voluntary benefit offerings in 2021,
midsize employers reduced these offerings. Employees, on the other
hand, are showing greater demand for voluntary benefit products –
even those that are not employer funded.
Based on analysis of the compiled data, the report concludes
with opportunities for health plans to offer midsize employers
enrollment solutions that will enable seamless administration of
medical coverage alongside more robust voluntary benefit
packages.
"The data we've collected over recent years provides specific
insight on the benefit plan designs by midsize employers and
participation trends among their employees," said Stephen Lance, Senior Vice President for Benefit
Catalog at Benefitfocus. "This insight, along with our platform and
road map for software enhancements, highlights the opportunity
health plans have to better serve the midsize group market as
health care and employee needs evolve."
"These two editions of the State of Employee Benefits
demonstrate how we leverage data to create insights and guidance
for our customers," said Matt Levin,
president and CEO of Benefitfocus. "It's part of our commitment to
ensure our customers get the greatest return on their investment in
health care benefits and that everyone in our ecosystem makes good
decisions on health care choices."
Among the report's key findings:
- Health Insurance Offerings: Since 2018, there is
little variance in the percentage of midsize employers only
offering traditional health insurance options and those offering a
combination of traditional and high-deductible health plans
(HDHPs), while the percentage of employers offering only HDHP has
dropped by half. Midsize employers are offering fewer choices when
it comes to health insurance than large employers.
- Health Care Spending Accounts: Since 2018, the
percentage of midsize employers offering at least one health
care spending account option has increased by nearly 40
percent. More than half now offer both a health savings account
(HSA) and flexible spending account (FSA). Midsize employers offer
either an HSA only or an FSA only option at a higher rate than
large employers.
- Employee Health Insurance Participation: Traditional
plans remained the most popular choice across generations
compared to HDHPs for employees of midsize employers. However,
enrollment overall is increasing for all generations except for
traditionalists as they're likely enrolled in Medicare or other
coverage. Generation Z had the highest growth in participation
across all plan types since 2018, while Gen Xers account for the
most participation overall in employer-sponsored health insurance
in 2021.
- Health Insurance Premiums: On average, health
insurance premiums increased in 2021 for both midsize employers
and employees across most plan types. However, employee premiums
are considerably less than they were in 2018. This is likely
because employers are taking on a higher percentage of the total
premium from 2019 through 2021 for most plan types. This differs
from large employers, who increased their share of the total
premium only in 2021.
- Voluntary Benefit Offerings & Participation:
Voluntary benefit offerings for midsize employers have steadily
increased since 2018, with hospital indemnity offerings nearly
doubling from 15 percent to 28 percent. However, voluntary
accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity and legal insurance
offerings dropped slightly in 2021, while pet insurance and
identity theft protection experienced growth during the same
timeframe – 27 percent and 12 percent increases respectively. Even
with that growth, midsize employer voluntary benefit offering rates
are significantly lower than those of the large employer groups,
except for pet insurance.
For this report, Benefitfocus compiled data from enrollment
transactions from 144 midsize employer groups (100-999 full-time
employees), representing 244,000 individual employees. The data was
evaluated on an anonymous basis. Enrollment records include both
active and passive enrollments made by a variety of industry roles
(employee, carrier representative, broker, benefits administrator,
etc.) from the fall of 2017 through fall of 2020 for effective
dates of January 1, 2018 through
January 1, 2021. These measurements
are not meant to be a nationally representative sample, but to
represent the aggregate activity for midsize employers on the
Benefitfocus platform.
Connect with Benefitfocus
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full report.
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About Benefitfocus
Benefitfocus (NASDAQ: BNFT) unifies the entire benefits
industry through innovative technology solutions that bring
efficiency, cost savings and simplicity to employee benefits
administration. Our powerful cloud-based software, data-driven
insights and thoughtfully designed services help employers,
insurance brokers, health plans and suppliers address the
complexity of benefits enrollment and engagement, while bringing
easier access to health, wealth and lifestyle products
through a world-class benefits experience. Our mission is
simple: to improve lives with benefits. Learn more
at www.benefitfocus.com, LinkedIn and Twitter.
DISCLAIMER REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
Except for historical information, all of the statements,
expectations, and assumptions contained in this press release are
forward-looking statements. Actual results might differ materially
from those explicit or implicit in the forward-looking statements.
Important factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially include: volatility and uncertainty in the global
economy and financial markets in light of the evolving COVID-19
pandemic and uncertainties arising from the recent U.S. elections;
our continuing losses and need to achieve GAAP profitability;
fluctuations in our financial results; our ability to maintain our
culture, retain and motivate qualified personnel; the immature and
volatile market for our products and services; risks related to
changing healthcare and other applicable regulations; risks
associated with acquisitions; cyber-security risks; the need to
innovate and provide useful products and services; our ability to
compete effectively; privacy, security and other risks associated
with our business; and the other risk factors set forth from time
to time in our SEC filings, copies of which are available free of
charge within the Investor Relations section of the Benefitfocus
website at http://investor.benefitfocus.com/sec-filings or upon
request from our Investor Relations Department. Benefitfocus
assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these
forward-looking statements, except as required by law.
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SOURCE Benefitfocus, Inc.