State Health Plans in Fiscal Austerity: The Challenge of Improving Benefits While Moderating Costs

New Center for Excellence issue brief

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Like all employers, state and local governments must control health care costs while still offering competitive benefit packages that will attract and retain talented employees.

Eight states that have adopted innovative practices to reduce costs and improve employees' health are featured in a new Center for Excellence publication, State Health Plans During Times of Fiscal Austerity: The Challenge of Improving Benefits While Moderating Costs.

The publication comes out of a joint Center for Excellence-North Carolina State University symposium that addressed both national trends and a rich variety of lessons learned from state innovations.

Symposium sessions featured pharmaceutical benefit strategies for active and retired public employees that have contained costs through audits and purchasing alliances; wellness programs that reduced costs and improved employee health; a program that pays providers for performance; and a revamped bariatric surgery program that cut costs and improved employee health.

Read the full brief at http://slge.org/publications/state-health-plans-in-fiscal-austerity-the-challenge-of-improving-benefits-while-moderating-costs

Access all Center health care research at http://slge.org/research/health-care

About the Center for State and Local Government Excellence
The Center for State and Local Government Excellence helps state and local governments become knowledgeable and competitive employers so they can attract and retain a talented and committed workforce. The Center identifies best practices and conducts research on competitive employment practices, workforce development, pensions, retiree health security, and financial planning. The Center also brings state and local leaders together with respected researchers and features the latest demographic data on the aging workforce, research studies, and news on health care, recruitment, and succession planning on its website, www.slge.org.

SOURCE Center for State and Local Government Excellence