The Wall Street Journal Addresses the Recession and Benefit Costs:
 

Recession To Increase Your Renewals

“… analysts indicate that the rate of prescription growth has fallen steadily since early last year and
in recent months has slipped in and out of negative territory.” 

— The Wall Street Journal (online), Patients Curb Prescription Spending, July 16, 2008
   
 

In other words, despite the decrease you might be seeing in the number of your company’s drug and medical claims, the odds are that your renewal will soar within the next year. So why is the number of claims so low? It’s not because your employees are getting healthier, it’s because they can’t afford to take their necessary medically prescribed drugs or get their essential Preventive Care screenings. Employees who have high cholesterol or diabetes (just two examples) that don’t take their medications will inevitably have a major medical event. This is what costs your company big money. This is what increases your risk pool. This is what causes your renewals to dramatically increase.

Food, gas, and prescription drugs are some of the foremost needs that your employees are forced to prioritize on a daily basis, and decide what they can, and can’t live without, to help them save on out-of-pocket costs during a Recession! If someone needs to substitute a brand name product for the store brand at the grocery store…it’s not a significant change. If someone takes public transportation or carpools to work…it’s not a significant a change. However, if someone with high cholesterol foregoes their necessary medically prescribed drugs, the true cost of that choice will be felt later on when they incur significant medical costs (i.e., ambulance, hospital stay, surgery, etc.) through a heart attack that could have been prevented.

When you consider that over half of the people in the United States are taking a prescription drug for a chronic disease; and that over half of those taking those drugs are not getting their prescriptions filled…it’s no wonder that your renewals are increasing along with the projected national averages!

     

Real World
Case Studies
of Bottom-Line Benefits

30.2% SAVED
Client had outdated benefit plans that no longer suited their employee population

RESULTS
A carrier change combined with a new plan design reduced costs by 30% from the previous year

Client attained an immediate one-year savings of
$262,047

We cut last year’s premiums AND improved benefits for employees.
   
 
   

WHAT CAN YOU DO AS AN EMPLOYER?
The number one thing you can do to evaluate the overall health of your company is to review your company’s drug plan and data. Why? Because if your employees are not taking their necessary medically prescribed drugs, then it’s only a matter of time before they have a major medical event. Ask yourself, “Would I rather spend $20 on a prescription now, or $50,000 to $200,000 dollars on a major medical event later?” Do the math. Your drug plan needs to be designed to encourage prescription drug utilization. Get your employees to take their medications and they will stay healthy.

Based on the Recession we are currently experiencing, now is when you can least afford to have a high renewal. We encourage you to sit and talk with us about a short- and long-term plan.

COMMUNICATING WITH YOUR EMPLOYEES
Usually, we’d love to deliver to you an Employee Version of this eAlert that has charts and graphs that you could share with your employees to help them understand the importance for them to continue to take their necessary medically prescribed drugs and get their Preventive Care screenings. Ideally, this would be done using “actual” data from your company’s drug utilization report …not generically!

This is what we would "like" the Employee Version of this eAlert to read:

Our company has created a program to help ensure that you and your family’s healthcare benefits   can withstand the Recession.   We want each of you to visit your doctors, take your necessary prescribed prescription drugs, and get your Preventive Care screenings. Your active participation in this process is a key component to its success;   and by ensuring that you and your families stay healthy, you can help us (and yourselves) keep our healthcare   costs   at an affordable level.

Let Corporate Synergies help you create a long-range strategic plan that will take you step-by-step through the   process of enacting an effective Disease Management program in your company.   Don't wait! Call Corporate Synergies at 1.866.CSG.1719 or click here to contact us today.

OTHER RECESSION STORIES IN THE NEWS:
Wall Street Journal - To read "Patients Curb Prescription Spending" CLICK HERE.

Business Wire - To read "While HMO Premiums Remain High, Rate of Increase to Decline in 2009" CLICK HERE.

 
1.866.CSG.1719 | 200 East Park Drive | Suite 600 | Mt. Laurel, NJ 08054 | www.corpsyn.com
© 2008 Corporate Synergies Group, Inc. Corporate Synergies ® Corporate Synergies Group, Inc.