According to this survey of health care experts and human resource leaders, health care costs are predicted to increase by as much as 50 percent over the next five years and employee contributions to health care premiums could triple. Experts agree, however, that employers and employees working together can drive down health care costs by making well-informed consumer decisions. A review of quality initiatives in health care and corporate-benefit management is included, pointing the way to better and more cost-conscious health plans.

With research from nearly 3,000 organizations, this executive summary of the SHRM Health Care Benchmarking Study discusses new findings related to health care plans and costs during these tough economic times.