Private sector trends such as providing more high-deductible health plans, vision care benefits and same-sex health care are working their way into the field of higher education, making inroads into the benefits offered by colleges and universities, according to a new report from HRDive.
The survey finds that while preferred provider organizations are still the most popular type of health care plans in the academic field, HDHPs are on the rise. A College and University Professional Association for Human Resources analysis of health care benefits in higher education, the Survey of Higher Education Employee Healthcare Benefits, which collects data from a cross section of U.S. colleges and universities, finds that nearly two-thirds of higher education institutions now offer HDHPs, up 16 percent since 2015.
The survey also notes that one-third of institutions cover part-time staff and adjunct faculty. Academia is also ahead of the private sector in covering both opposite- and same-sex partners. In 2017, health care benefits for opposite-sex partners rose by 50 percent, while those benefits for same-sex partners rose by 75 percent.
Another marked increase is found in the area of vision care. Not only are there more standalone vision care plans, but according to the CUPA-HR study, that trend is driven by a trio of factors: higher health care costs, a larger, older population, and vision problems caused by computer work. Together, these factors have resulted in an increase of two thirds in vision care plans.
HRDive says that, since “different institutions will have varying budgets or endowments, colleges are also a unique microcosm of both long-term, tenured employment and hourly adjunct employment.” That means they offer a range of coping mechanisms to deal with the ever-increasing cost of health care and changes — or the lack thereof — in health care policy from a Republican Congress that cannot seem to advance on agreeing to any significant changes to the Affordable Care Act.
“How they cope with health care between both groups is an interesting examination of how employers of all types must handle health care policy,” says the report.
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