As employees flip through their open enrollment packets, theymay notice substantial changes to their medical plans for 2010,from increases to employee contributions to introducing a wellnessprogram, according to the 2009 Benefits & Talent Survey by AonConsulting, the human capital consulting firm of Aon Corp.

Aon Consulting surveyed 1,313 employers nationwide in its 2009Benefits & Talent Survey and found 41 percent of employers areexpecting to make more substantial changes to their 2010 medicalprogram than they did this year. Specifically:

o 70% are planning to increase employee contributions

o 67% are expecting to raise deductibles, co-pays, coinsuranceor out-of-pocket maximums

o More than half are expecting to introduce or expand a wellnessprogram next year

o 34% are planning to introduce or increase financial incentivesfor wellness programs in 2010

o 63% of respondents offer disease management programs and 10percent plan to do so in 2010 or later.

To reduce employer and employee healthcare costs, employers havebeen implementing various types of audits as a short-term savingssolution. According to the Benefits & Talent Survey, 46 percentof organizations conducted a dependent eligibility verificationaudit in 2009 or earlier and 20 percent are planning to do so in2010 or later. Other audits employers are planning to implement in2010 or later include electronic prescription drug (16 percent ofemployers); medical claims (13 percent of employers); andprescription rebate (12 percent of employers).

The key to a successful wellness and disease management programdepends on participation; one way to motivate employees to sign upis by offering incentives. Of survey respondents, 41 percent ofemployers offer a gift card or merchandise as an incentive, and ofthose organizations that offer at least one incentive, 39 percentoffer between $50 and $249 as the maximum value an employee canearn in one year.