Health-insurance costs reach fever pitch: program variety softens rate hikes.

National Report--Educating employees about health-care costs and offering them multiple programs are important steps hotel companies can take to help reduce escalating insurance costs.

Mary Villarreal, senior v.p. of Remington Hotel Corp., said medical malpractice suits, expensive technology such as magnetic resonance imaging and the number of baby boomers needing medical care have contributed to the rising cost of health care.

Kent Foster, v.p. of human resources for John Q. Hammons Hotels, said one way to look at rising health-care costs is to figure out ho