Benefit changes now can cut health costs later

In South Florida, employees can see the impact of rising health care costs

In Washington D.C., Congress goes around and around about health insurance reform.

In South Florida, employees can see the impact of rising health care costs during open enrollment, the time when workers choose health insurance and other benefits.

Health insurance costs are only up 5 percent since 2008, but have risen 131 percent since 1999, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-profit that focuses on health care issues.

South Florida employers are using cost-control strategies and trying to keep cost increases to a minimum for employees, says Mario Careaga, vice president of Fort Lauderdale -based Seitlin Benefits, which sponsored a recent survey of South Florida companies' health plan changes.

Of the 209 companies surveyed, 22 percent negotiated lower costs with their current carrier in 2009. At the same time, 23 percent increased their employees' share of the monthly premium and 17 percent increased deductibles. But those percentages were well below the national averages.

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