Hello,

I am a student, doing a paper on benefits. I am trying to find out what percentage of extended benefits are really used by employees who have such plans.

Also, what is the chance for non-regulated alternative therapies to be included in extended benefit plans in the future?

Can anyone send me some links to such information?

Thanks,
Rodica

There are several large firms that do, among other things, benefits consulting and actuarial studies on the costs of benefits. Their assumptions for forecasting future costs are based usually on the most recent, reliable usage data available. Collecting and analyzing that data is costly and/or proprietary. I am not aware of such data being published on the internet (but other posters on this board might).

Given that you are a student and it is an educational paper you are writing, some of those consulting companies may be willing to share some of the high-level data with you.

A few names you could perhaps Google would be Mercer benefits, Hewitt Associates, Aon, and Buck Consulting.

You may want to check out the Bureau of Labor Statistics at www.bls.gov. One of their recent reports is attached as an example of what you might find.

What are "extended benefits" ?

What are "non-regulated alternative therapies" ?

Thank you, that was very helpful.

Thanks for the link!

Hello,

In Canada, "extended benefits" are those added on top of government funded health plans. They usually include dental plans, orthodontist, chiropractic care, podiatrist, etc. -
Non-regulated alternative therapies are those that do not require registration with a regulating board/etc (e.g. relaxation massage can be done by a person who is not a registered massage therapist)