Going by the findings of a health care purchasing value survey by New York’s Towers Watson, and Washington’s National Business Group on Health (NBGH), at least 76 percent of the companies feel that poor health habits of the workers are one of the top challenges for maintaining reasonably-priced benefit coverage.

The findings of the survey – carried out between November 17, 2009 and January 8, 2010 – were based on the responses that Towers Watson and the NBGH received from 507 employers with 1,000 or more employees.

Saying that the companies generally strive to try and change participant behavior, the benefit managers of large companies added that the firms they have hired to convince health plan participants to improve their health and make efficient use of health care services mostly fail to play their part effectively.

In their endeavors to tackle the problem, most employers said that they were intensifying several wellness efforts that have stood the test of usefulness over the years – including motivating the employees to fill out a health-risk appraisal; providing the services of health coaches; and reducing some drug co-pays for workers with chronic conditions.

With the survey noting that health costs rose 7 percent in 2009 and would likely go up 6.5 percent this year, the trend that is highlighted is that most employers increase the out-of-pocket expenses of the workers for settling the rising benefit expenses.