Health Plan Weekly

Two recent surveys from KFF and WTW indicate employer-sponsored health plans are concerned with rising health care costs, driven by factors such as inflation, increased utilization and rising prescription drug expenditures. However, the results suggest that employers are becoming more hesitant to raise health insurance costs for workers at a higher rate than their salary increases. 

While the average annual family premiums for employer-sponsored coverage increased 7% this year to $23,968 after not increasing a year ago, according to the KFF Employer Health Benefits Survey, workers’ average wages increased 5.2% and inflation was up by 5.8%. During the past five years, premiums increased 22%, while wages rose by 27% and inflation increased 21%.  

In January, the U.S. Supreme Court is slated to hear two cases brought by fishing companies that, at first glance, would seem to have nothing to do with health insurers. However, the outcome of those cases could profoundly change how insurers — and companies of all stripes — interact with the many regulations that govern their businesses.  

That’s because the cases — Loper Bright Enterprises, et al. v. Gina Raimondo and Relentless Inc., et al. v. Dept. of Commerce, et al — concern a legal doctrine known as Chevron deference, which for decades has given federal agencies considerable leeway when interpreting laws via rulemaking. If the high court strikes down that longstanding legal precedent, the regulatory landscape that governs every industry could become much more chaotic, legal experts tell AIS Health, a division of MMIT. 

Elevance Health Inc., the parent company of Anthem, enjoyed a strong third quarter, raising its end-of-year earnings guidance and completing a round of stock buybacks. The firm cited a strategic review — which involved layoffs and slashing real estate costs — as a key reason for the results. However, the positive results were dampened by Anthem plans’ middling performance in the newly released 2024 edition of Medicare Advantage Star Ratings, which drew scrutiny from Wall Street. 

The strategic review yielded a $697 million boost to the quarter’s balance sheet, with an Elevance press release touting “the write-off of certain information technology assets and contract exit costs, a reduction in staff including the relocation of certain job functions, and the impairment of assets associated with the closure or partial closure of data centers and offices.”