"Healthcare costs increasing at unsustainable pace," a recent Modern Healthcare headline reads. In a new study, PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts a 6% medical cost trend in 2019, as expensive new medical services and drugs and market consolidation make it difficult for employers to contain their employee coverage costs.

But "difficult" is not "impossible," as MedBen clients regularly demonstrate. From 2013 to 2017, MedBen’s overall block of self-funded clients experienced an average claims cost trend of just 4.1%. Hospital and municipality clients did better still, realizing average claims cost trends of 3.1% and 2.7%, respectively.

So how do our clients consistently keep their health care spending under national trends? By strategic use of MedBen's variety of benefits management services and their associated cost reduction tools, including:

• Medical claims management that uses an innovative surveillance system to track down questionable claims, backed by certified medical specialists;
• Pharmacy benefits management that pays for medication based on what the pharmacy paid for it, not an inflated wholesale price;
• Population health management that promotes early prevention and detection of chronic conditions through the doctor-patient relationship; and
• An experienced compliance team that ensures client health plans meet federal and state regulations, so to avoid expensive legal complications.

Of course, these are just a few of the ways MedBen works with employers to design and maintain a cost-effective health plan. If you’d like more information about any of our saving solutions, please contact Vice President of Sales & Marketing Brian Fargus at bfargus@medben.com.