Indian employers facing rising healthcare costs

New Delhi: Employers in the country are facing increasing healthcare costs with 55 per cent spending more than a quarter of their payroll on providing health-related benefits as against 38 per cent in other Asia Pacific nations.

According to global professional services company Towers Watson's 2015 Asia Pacific Benefit Trends Survey, rising health cost is compelling Indian employers to broaden their view on employee's health.

The survey showed that 42 per cent of Indian employers believe improving employee well-being is one of the top objectives of their benefit strategy compared with 26 per cent in the Asia Pacific region.

Interestingly, 19 per cent of employers are focusing purely on containing health-related benefit costs, despite the fact that more than three-quarters (78 per cent) named rising benefit costs as the most pressing challenge they face.

The report noted that more employers in India cover dependents than their regional counterparts and this could be a potential contributor to the higher healthcare spend by employers compared with other Asia Pacific nations.

Less than a quarter (21 per cent) employers in Asia Pacific cover dependent parents, while 44 per cent of Indian employers cover them.

While health risk assessments are most valued, less than half of Indian employers offer them currently, however, an additional 22 per cent plans to offer them in the coming year.

Moreover, stress is largely seen to be a top lifestyle risk faced by Indian employees. Yet, 36 per cent of employers offer stress management programmes — however, the situation is set to improve with an additional 30 per cent employers planning to offer such programmes in the future.