Providers less likely to pass along rising health costs, Watson Wyatt survey finds.(Brief Article)

Health Care Strategic Management, May, 2000

Both employers and health plans are much more likely than health care providers to pass along rising medical costs to employees or clients, according to the results of a recent survey sponsored by Watson Wyatt Worldwide, the Washington Business Group on Health and the Healthcare Financial Management Assn.

While 70% of employers said they are reacting to 9.7% health cost increases by passing the costs along to employees, and a whopping 99% of health plans said they were passing increased costs along to employers, only 53% of providers said they were reacting in that way.

Instead, providers said they were eliminating fat in the system (64%), reducing or eliminating certain services (61%), and improving medical management (53%) and information systems...

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