PEOPLE: HR Corner How to Be a Better Benefits Buyer By Staff Tuesday, August 11, 2015 10:05 AM NEW YORK—Employers spend thousands per employee on health insurance plans each year. Yet not all companies check the quality of their plan before buying. For major purchases in our lives, like automobiles and appliances, we first check Consumer Reports and other sources for quality ratings. Rating services have historically saved consumers money and potential problems. Yet many employers do not take the time to conduct research or to advantage of rating services when they invest in their employee group health plan.A recently released survey of employers that offer employee health insurance found that most do not use any objective quality information or ratings in their decision-making process. That’s like buying a car because it’s cute or you like its color, and hoping for the best. Anne Weiss, who leads efforts to increase health care value at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, said the survey “highlights the fact that there is still a lot of work to be done to educate employers on how to get the most bang for their buck.” The survey, conducted by the Associated Press NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.A full 60 percent of surveyed employers offering health insurance said quality ratings were an important factor when choosing a plan. Despite this, most employers (89 percent) did not use or know about objective health insurance quality information and ratings available. Only 7 percent used objective quality information when buying employee health coverage.While many employers do rely on other sources, they rely primarily on the health plan to provide quality information (36 percent of surveyed employers offering health insurance presently use this method). Another 15 percent of employers use their insurance broker or benefit consultants to evaluate health insurance plan quality. These sources might provide useful information so long as their assessments are truly unbiased. To get a true picture of a health plan’s quality, you might want to ensure that you are using unbiased sources.With that said, the Associated Press-NORC survey assessed familiarity with four different sources of quality information: HEDIS scores, NCQA, eValue8 and CAHPS data. Following is an overview of each:Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) scores: The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) collects these health insurance plan quality ratings. NCQA looks at three measures to develop its ratings: clinical quality, consumer satisfaction and NCQA’s review of a health plan’s health quality processes. If your plan isn’t listed, that might not necessarily reflect on its quality or lack thereof. NCQA only ranks health plans that publicly report their quality information. The NCQA also issues a State of Health Care Quality Report every year. Instead of focusing on individual plans, the report takes a look at the key quality issues the U.S. health system faces and progress toward providing evidence-based medicine. You can obtain a copy at no charge here. eValue8 Data: The National Business Coalition on Health (NBCH) represents regional coalitions of more than 4,000 mid- and large-sized employers that provide health insurance coverage to approximately 35 million employees and their dependents. This nonprofit provides research and other resources to improve the employer-sponsored health system. According to the NBCH, “eValue8 asks health plans probing questions about how they manage critical processes that control costs, reduce and eliminate waste, ensure patient safety, close gaps in care and improve health and health care.” NBCH develops eValue8 ratings using information on how plans handle health promotion, disease management, provider payments and provider quality measurements.CAHPS: The U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) conducts the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) surveys. CAHPS asks consumers and patients to report on and evaluate their experiences with health care providers. These surveys focus on aspects of quality that consumers are best qualified to assess, such as providers’ communication skills and ease of access to health services. All CAHPS surveys are in the public domain, which means that anyone can download and use these surveys to assess consumer experiences. Individuals and organizations use the survey results to inform their decisions and to improve the quality of health care services. For more information on CAHPS health plan surveys, click here. In closing, do remember that if you cannot find objective quality information on your health plan, that does not necessarily mean it may not a good plan. Rating organizations might not rate plans from smaller or regional insurers. Hedley Lawson, Contributing EditorManaging PartnerAligned Growth Partners, LLC(707) 217-0979hlawson@alignedgrowth.comwww.alignedgrowth.com