Employers believe that the CVS-Aetna merger and other potential M&A deals in the industry are going to impact how people access health care – and how employers design their future health care strategies, according to a recent Aon pulse survey.
The Chicago-based brokerage firm asked 450 HR leaders from large and mid-size employers about possible implications from couplings, including the potential Optum and DaVita Medical deal.
A majority (71 percent) of respondents say there will be moderate changes to the way people access care in the future and 14 percent expect significant changes, while 15 percent expect no real impact in how and where people access health care.
The survey also found that six out of 10 say they are likely to make changes to their health care strategies, though there are differences in how quickly those changes will happen. Roughly a quarter (23 percent) expect the changes will accelerate revisiting or adjusting their overall health care strategy; 38 percent have a “wait-and-see” approach; and 39 percent expect the changes will have no impact on their overall health care strategy.
“These results tell us that employers think these deals, particularly a potential CVS/Aetna combination, are meaningful and will have important implications to the way employees and their families access health care,” says Jim Winkler, global chief innovation officer for Aon’s Health & Benefits group.
“Certainly, the specifics of how these deals unfold will influence how employers respond; it will be important for employers to monitor all of these situations as they take shape,” Winkler adds.
A subset of the respondents -- 210 HR leaders – were asked whether their organization would re-visit their medical and pharmacy vendor approach.
Half (52 percent) currently have medical and pharmacy managed by separate companies and anticipate no changes to their approach; 24 percent currently integrate medical and pharmacy with one company and anticipate no changes to their approach; 15 percent currently have medical and pharmacy integrated with one company and will consider carving out pharmacy; and 9 percent currently have medical and pharmacy managed by separate companies and will consider integrating with one company.
“Many industry experts believe the CVS/Aetna merger could prompt employers to change the way they currently manage their medical and pharmacy benefits,” Winkler says.
“Our results show that most employers have no plans to change the way they currently deliver these benefits, which leads us to believe they see this deal as being something more than just a medical and pharmacy integration play,’ he says.
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Katie Kuehner-Hebert
Katie Kuehner-Hebert is a freelance writer based in Running Springs, Calif. She has more than three decades of journalism experience, with particular expertise in employee benefits and other human resource topics.
