Addressing health-care costs.

• Position: Brief article

Rising costs over the last decade have prompted many local governments to make changes to their health plans and strategies. Cost sharing, wellness program, and disease management initiatives are widely reported. Local Government Strategies to Address Rising Health-Care Costs, a study from the Center for State and Local Government Excellence, found that the top cost drivers of local government health-care increases were increased claim costs (64 percent); prescription drugs (57 percent); an aging workforce (46 percent); insurance company price increases (45 percent); and federal health-care policy (45 percent).

* 57 percent of respondents increased cost sharing of premiums paid by employees, and nearly half of...