America's Benefit Specialist December 2022

INDUSTRY ISSUES TO WATCH IN 2023

By Misty Baker Director of Compliance and Government affairs BenefitMall Leander, Texas misty.baker@benefitmall.com

As we close the book on 2022, it’s time to look ahead at what is in store for 2023. While the impact of election results and potential inflation are still unknown, there are a number of healthcare industry issues to keep an eye on in 2023. RATE INCREASES CONTINUING This first trend isn’t going to be popular: Rate increases will continue. Across the board, rates are expected to increase by around 10% for employers and employees, continuing an uphill trend. While rates, in general, are increasing, it doesn’t help that labor costs and prescription fees are rising as well. Add in global supply-chain issues and overall 2023 healthcare spend is expect ed to increase exponentially.

facilitate these services is the issue employ ees are facing. For many employees and their families, available services may be out-of-network, out of their city limits, or even out of their price range with this surge of awareness. FAMILY GLITCH FIX Let’s travel back to 2012 when regulations used self-only employee coverage as the de

MENTAL HEALTH STILL THE FOCUS

Following COVID, mental health service usage has skyrocketed—a trend that can be attributed to increased offerings by employ ers as well as a newfound overall awareness of the importance of mental health. With recent legislation being passed tightening regulations and impacting benefits offer ings, finding mental health practitioners to

WHILE WE’VE SEEN NEW MODELS COME TO FRUITION FOR MANAGING COSTS, THERE IS STILL ROOM FOR NEWER, MORE EFFICIENT OFFERINGS TO BREAK THROUGH.

10 ABS | benefitspecialistmagazine.com