Iowa companies will be less likely to shift increases in health-care costs to their employees in the future. Instead, employers will encourage cost savings through better health-care choices by employees, fueled by more data available for decision-making, according to an annual survey conducted by Mercer Health & Benefits Inc.

Blaine Bos, a partner with Mercer’s Minneapolis office, presented details of the new report during a luncheon held yesterday at the company’s West Des Moines office.

According to the survey, which included 2,930 employers nationwide, the average total health benefit cost per employee rose 6.1 percent among all employers. For Iowa, large employers’ costs increased 7.9 percent last year, which brought the average Iowa cost up to $7,841 per employee, nearly equal to the national average for companies with more than 500 workers. Nationally, cost increases are expected to again be 6.1 percent this year, after allowing for plan adjustments made by employers.      Sixty-one percent of the companies surveyed said they plan to offer a health savings account or other type of consumer-directed health plan within the next five years, but only 11 percent said they would offer an HSA exclusively. According to the survey, the average cost per employee with an HSA was about $1,100 less than with a preferred provider plan.

Copies of the report are available by contacting Tara Lewis at Mercer’s New York office, (212) 345-2451, or to request a report tailored to a specific industry, call Vicki Lyon at the West Des Moines office, 365-3457.