Since 2000, health insurance has continued to rise at double digit rates for small, medium and in some cases, large employers. The industry strategy for years has been to focus on plan design, price and cost shifting. When you look at the total cost of your health insurance program and begin to breakdown the specific costs, it has been documented that only 15% of the total health insurance

costs come from plan design, administration and stop loss premium. The question is, if 85% of the costs come from claims, why is it the strategy to focus on reducing benefits, shopping price and

shifting costs to the employee? The time has come that benefit professionals focus on how to lower

the cost in the 85% category.