Wellness incentives: About half of those surveyed have wellness programs, and they’re ramping up the incentives to promote participation.

Implications: “Wellness programs, when strategic in nature and offered holistically (including emotional, mental, and even financial wellness), can further improve the employers’ operations by increasing employee productivity, engagement, and retention.”

Pregnancy cost: Although the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) requires employers to offer many free maternity services, not all fall under the Act’s requirements. And employers are raising the employee share of those costs. In fact, the survey found that out-of-pocket expenses for an in-hospital birth were up 35 percent this year.

Implications: “Organizations should be wary of increasing hospital costs too aggressively, as employees are particularly cost-sensitive to them, especially for maternity-related services.” Option: “Offer financial planning and counseling to help employees choose the best plan and save (through health savings accounts) for post-pregnancy services.”

Surcharges: Employers are looking to spousal surcharges to recover some costs, with “41 percent of employers introducing or planning to introduce spousal surcharges and a few even excluding spouses from coverage altogether.”

Implications: “Use of spousal surcharges may merit a closer look as many employers consider eliminating same-sex domestic partner coverage (as it is rolled into spousal coverage).”

Overall advice from CEB and DirectPath to management is that cost-cutting and shifting of costs to employees may be "trendy" in 2016, but top performing companies will want to weigh the benefits of cost management versus the benefits of a workforce that is more engaged. When employees enjoy a healthy benefits package that doesn't nickel and dime them, but allows them to utilize their coverage for better health, they perform better.