title: An employer's guide to controlling health care costs.
abstract: Employers are facing difficult times with respect to controlling costs associated with health care benefits provided to employees. Current trends in employer health care costs are unsustainable. Moreover, public policy changes in the form of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are tied up in legal review, and the results are uncertain. This article provides a brief background on health care benefits and costs, discusses consumer-driven and traditional models of health care plans, and reviews cost-control tactics that employers should consider. It concludes with a review of the current situation with recommendations to employers for moderating future health care costs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Management and Strategy, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, North Carolina 28723, USA.
authors.forename: Todd
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Creasy
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: Jerry
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kinard
mesh_terms: D003363:Cost Control / Q000379:methods; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006264:Health Benefit Plans, Employee / Q000191:economics*; D005102:Health Expenditures; D006801:Humans; D058991:Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; D014481:United States