Kahala food donations set record

Kahala Associates real estate agents dropped off a record 2,622 pounds of food last week at the Hawaii Foodbank. They collected the donations by going door to door in Pearl City and in the Kapahulu area.

The agents collected nearly 2.5 times the amount of donations as last year’s 1,100 pounds.

High-deductible plans in demand

With open enrollment for benefits in full swing, U.S. workers are seeing more high-deductible health plans from cost-conscious employers.

A new report finds that 36 percent of large employers offered consumer-directed, high-deductible health plans in 2012, up from 14 percent five years ago. Enrollment in those plans has risen to 16 percent of all covered employees, compared with 5 percent in 2007, according to benefits consultant Mercer.

Employers are pushing these plans in part because they are about 20 percent cheaper than the cost of a conventional PPO — or preferred-provider organization — plan, Mercer said.

The minimum deductible for these plans with a health savings account is $2,400 for a family this year and $2,500 next year under federal rules.

Overall, Mercer found that health benefit costs per employee rose 4.1 percent this year, the smallest increase since 1997 in its annual employer survey. Government officials and other groups have reported a similar slowdown in health care spending.

Some experts attribute it to employers shifting more costs onto workers and patients postponing care and out-of-pocket medical expenses during a weak economy.

Nationwide, employers surveyed expect a 5 percent increase in health benefit costs for 2013.