The importance of providing tools to help Utah consumers make smarter health care decisions.

• Author: Gold, Pam
• Position: UB Voices by UnitedHealthcare

We can be proud in the United States that we offer some of the best health care in the world. But, the latest numbers from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development indicated that more is spent per consumer here than in any other country. The 2013 Employer Health Benefits Survey from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation reported that average annual health insurance premiums for family coverage in 2013 for employer-sponsored health benefits totaled an astonishing $16,351. That is a hefty sum for both employers and their employees, no matter how it's shared.

The good news is people in Utah are among the healthiest in the nation. America's Health Rankings 2014. from the United Health Foundation[R], Utah ranked 5 among the 50 states. Nevertheless, the rising cost of health care is a significant and worrisome expense. In these highly competitive and challenging times, businesses must work closely with their benefits provider to get these costs under control and find ways to reverse the trend.

Increasingly there's evidence that consumer behavior is a significant factor in health care costs.

You can be sure that your employees want to reduce health care costs, too; they just don't know where to start. And that's an area that you can impact, when you connect with the right health benefits company.

Your health benefits company should have the tools and resources that show a commitment to helping educate the consumer in controlling health care costs. Programs and tools that increase transparency throughout the health care continuum help your employees understand costs and medical procedures, so they can make more-informed decisions about the quality and cost of their care. Your health insurer should offer:

* An estimating tool that provides estimated costs and quality rating information about local providers for many medical services based on the member's location and benefit plan. This tool should be available from a smartphone.

* A mobile application that provides consumers with instant access to their health care information. Whether they want to find the nearest physician, check the status of a claim or speak directly with a health care professional, they should have an on-the-go resource.

* An online management tool to help consumers understand their health care benefits, showing what the plan paid for a benefit, what the member owes for that benefit, and why that amount is owed.

* A journal application to log and track...