Rising costs force employers to seek health-benefit options.

Colorado employers may have to shell out about 12 percent more for their employees' health-care insurance in 2006 than they did in 2005.

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Not that such increased costs are anything new. Years of double-digit increases have resulted in health-insurance costs nearly doubling since 1998.

With no end in sight, employers face a familiar dilemma: how to provide a competitive health-care benefits package without breaking the company budget.

"Most employers want to give their employees a good health-care plan, but they need to maintain their profit margins to keep their business going," said Greg Ahbe, president and CEO of The Ahbe Group, an insurance brokerage and financial services firm with six offices in metro Denver and agents throughout the state. The firm offers a full range of auto, home, business, life and health insurance. "Employers want options," Ahbe said. "They say, 'We can't raise the cost of our products by that much every year.'"

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Dave Uppinghouse is the senior vice president responsible for employee benefits with Van Gilder Insurance Corp. Established in 1905, Van Gilder targets its health-care products to mid-market employers with 50 to 1,000 employees. With 265 professionals in five states, it offers a full line of commercial and personal insurance, as well as employee benefits and aviation insurance.

"Traditionally, like many brokers, we've worked with clients to incorporate cost sharing into the design of their benefits program. Higher deductibles, co-payments and co-insurance--those are all items that the employee is in the game for," Uppinghouse said.

The goal of cost sharing is to stabilize health-care premiums, but employers are looking for creative solutions in other areas as well.

"In the last three years more attention has been paid to self-funding," Uppinghouse said. Re-insurance products make it possible for employers of 100 or more workers to consider self-funding, which gives the company more control of its costs. "In many environments it has very good application, but feasibility must be assessed for each client. We help with that analysis," Uppinghouse explained.

Ahbe suggests that employers consider offering dual-option plans.

Employees can offer a rich or a stripped-down plan. The employer pays the same premium amount, regardless of the plan the employee chooses. The employee who wants the rich plan picks up a greater share of the costs.

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)...

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