Walgreens is putting the responsibility of finding health coverage onto employees amidst increasing costs for care.
The country's biggest drugstore chain is directing its workers to a "private health insurance exchange" where they will be able to choose from a maximum of 25 plans versus the company providing them with only two to four options beginning next month for their 2014 coverage the Associated Press reported.
Despite the news, the amount of time and effort Walgreens devotes to health care benefits will remain the same. The only difference is the company will provide its employees with more choices and assist them in becoming more effective consumers when it comes to health care coverage.
Tom Sondergeld, Walgreens senior director of health and well-being said informing employees about health care options available to them is the only way to help the company decrease health care costs.
"I think the only way to drive down costs in the health care space is to have the consumer buying the health care be knowledgeable and educated and understand what they are buying," he told the AP.
According to the AP, employers have experienced difficulty with trying to keep healthcare costs for years that rise quicker than inflation and take over growing parts of their budgets each year. Walgreens' move is become a common trend by companies as they try to get away from their old ways of providing their workers one or two plans with benefits, which employees might not find suitable.
In this new era, employees are given a certain amount of money and access to a private marketplace or exchange through a process called "defined contribution health insurance" where they can figure out what plan they want.
The AP reported, the new process could make company health care costs more predictable, while at the same time confuse workers and give them large medical bills and non-sufficient coverage if they do not select the best health care option for them.
