Health Plan Almanac 2002: Boiling point.(Statistical Data Included)

If it were true that a watched pot never boils, employers would be perched, hawk-like, above the cauldron of rising health costs. But years of double-digit trends appear to have culminated in the long-dreaded boiling point, and plan sponsors can't eye the kettle without getting splashed.

Red-faced CFOs and CEOs are bursting into benefit managers' offices, asking what they've done lately to control untenable health benefit costs. The crisis is beginning to speak directly to the bottom line. Businesses can't grow fast enough to afford their benefit costs. Action is requi