Rising costs continue to vex U.S. employers.

• Position: HEALTH CARE - Brief article

American businesses are concerned about continued rising health care costs but are often unaware of the potential solutions that could enhance and improve the quality of care and, at the same time, reduce cost, a new study from Deloitte has determined.

While employer-sponsored health benefits are not likely to disappear, changes that shift financial risk to employees are certain to take place, altering the landscape of employers providing coverage for their workers.

Those are among the chief findings in Deloitte's 2012 survey of employers with 50 or more workers offering health benefits.

As part of its study, employers were asked overall about their view of the U.S. health care system, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and possible strategies for employee health benefits coverage and cost containment. The participants in the survey included C-suite executives and human resources professionals.

The survey results also revealed that the health care system underperforms, nearly two thirds gave it a grade of C, D or F...