Many of the area’s major employers are making changes to medical plan benefits offered to employees. In most cases, the new plans take effect on Jan. 1, 2010.

Some of those changes reward healthier lifestyle choices. Smokers no longer get a free ride, at least under healthcare options offered beginning next year by employers like New Hanover Regional Medical Center and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy.

The hospital system, with about 4,700 full- and part-time workers on the payroll, is the top employer in New Hanover County.

“We work hard to keep costs down and offer options to meet a variety of needs,” spokeswoman Erin Balzotti said. “We are fortunate to be in an organization that has made that a priority. Most workers in the county have seen health insurance take out bigger and bigger pieces of their paycheck each year. Our employees have not.”

A challenging environment

Hospital officials faced many challenges this year while examining the medical plan options for employees, said Karen Curran, hospital director of compensation and benefits.

“The economy has driven up our bad debt and our finances are tight,” she said. “Still, our benefits team has found a way to, once again, offer a plan that keeps rates steady.”

Because New Hanover Regional Medical Center is self-insured, Curran said the system can keep costs down by encouraging employees to use hospital facilities “when there is an option to do so.”

For 2010, hospital system employees can choose between three health plan options. One of the options is offered at the same premium rate as this year. The other two options cost more, she said.

The lowest-cost hospital insurance plan incorporates the idea of using system-affiliated facilities and physicians, Curran said.

Employees have the option of choosing two other plans that include higher rates and different options.

“We wanted to make sure everyone had a choice and have spent a lot of time meeting with individuals about what each of the plans has to offer,” Curran said.

Another priority in restructuring health-plan coverage was encouraging a healthy lifestyle.

To help convince New Hanover Regional employees to stop using tobacco – and as a way to help offset higher medical costs – tobacco users will be asked to quit or pay a 10 percent premium surcharge. 

 “As health care providers we know first-hand the dangers of tobacco use. We see how it affects a person’s health in so many ways,” Curran said. “The medical costs incurred by a tobacco user over the years can be significant.”

Body mass index does not factor into any of the hospital plans, she said.

Costs of benefits rise again

Employers are tasked with keeping soaring health care plan costs in check during uncertain economic times. According to a study by Towers Perrin, a global professional services firm, employer-sponsored medical benefit expenditures in the U.S. will rise 7 percent in 2010, to more than $10,000 per employee. That’s a first.

The study found that employee premium contributions will rise, on average, by 10 percent, or just over $200, in 2010. The increase eclipses the 8 percent jump experienced in 2009.

“This additional burden is exacerbated by indirect cost shifting through benefit design changes such as increased copayments, which add significantly to the overall cost for employees,” the study states.

“For employees, the affordability challenges associated with this year’s cost increases are even more acute than the general survey numbers suggest,” said Dave Guilmette, managing director of the Towers Perrin health and welfare practice.

“The cost-shifting actions employers are taking for 2010 are consistent with what’s been done in years past, which is surprising in an economy where bigger shifts might be expected. Nevertheless, employees are feeling the impact more keenly given that these actions come at a time when wages at some organizations are flat or declining, 401(k) balances and employer matches are down, and other aspects of total rewards such as bonuses and profit sharing are being scaled back,” Guilmette said.

“The financial hardship associated with rising employee costs is top of mind – and not sustainable for many people,” he said.

GE Hitachi’s new plan

Another major area employer, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, is also introducing a new health-care benefits plan for most of its U.S. salaried employees, beginning Jan. 1. The GE Wilmington site in Castle Hayne has about 2,000 salaried and hourly employees who work at GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Global Nuclear Fuel and GE Aviation.

“The new plan is designed to provide employees with more control over how their health-care dollars are spent. It will also help our employees become more active consumers of health care by providing more transparency and education about the costs of health care and pharmaceuticals,” according to a statement from GE.

Preventive care services such as annual physicals, mammograms and colonoscopies are free under the plan. As an incentive to quit smoking, non-smoking employees will pay $625 less per year in annual premiums. Smokers will be provided with “a variety of smoking cessation tools and support to help them quit,” GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy spokesman Ned Glascock said.

Glascock said the new plan “improves coverage for preventive care screenings, adds incentives for health behaviors and better educates our employees on health and health-care costs.”

Glascock said GE hasn’t made major changes to its health care benefits plan in more than 20 years, while the health care system and economic environment have changed “dramatically.”

Glascock said some employees will pay less than they do today, while others will pay more. There are three plan options available.

“It is dependent on how much care they will need and which plan option they choose,” Glascock said.

 “Our employees and their families will continue to have excellent benefits and will be protected financially in the case of high medical expenses,” according to a GE statement.

Some new coverage areas have been added, Glascock said, including treatment for infertility, autism and nutrition counseling.

Novant’s focus on wellness

One of Brunswick County’s major employers is Novant Health’s Brunswick Community Hospital, which has about 500 employees. There are 733 Novant employees in Brunswick and New Hanover counties, including those who work at affiliated medical group physician practices and on the corporate side.

Novant Health has more than 26,000 employees across its health care system, which includes hospitals and other facilities in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. One key change to Novant Health employee benefits is a health reimbursement account “which encourages employees to more actively engage in their personal healthcare decisions,” Brunswick Community Hospital spokeswoman Amy Myers said.

Three health plans, offered by Cigna, are available. Each of the plans includes a more traditional prescription plan, “so the plans are considered a hybrid of a HRA and a more traditional plan,” Myers said.

Novant Health is among those employers emphasizing “a greater focus on wellness and working toward wellness goals,” Myers said.

For example, she said, employees who complete a health history questionnaire receive additional HRA dollars in their account for medical expenses. And employees who participate in the Novant Compass employee wellness program can receive additional HRA dollars.

The Compass program enables employees to meet with a personal health coach, who assists in settling personal wellness goals like exercising more often or drinking more water every day.

Employees can receive an HRA incentive “by making healthy choices and simply showing progress toward their goals,” Myers said.

All health plans now cover preventative care visits at 100 percent, including adult physicals and wellness doctor visits for children, she added.

PPD, which laid off about 80 workers earlier this year at its Wilmington world headquarters, did not provide answers to questions about health care plan options offered to its employees. The company has about 1,500 employees in Wilmington.