Trivial Pursuit VI

Welcome to another edition of trivial pursuit via The City Wire — an irregular feature meant to provide info that is likely entertaining and only accidentally informative in a useful manner. Enjoy.

COST SHARING
More employers are using cost sharing as a utilization management tool in their prescription drug programs, according to a survey released by Buck Consultants.

Buck’s “Prescription Drug Benefit Survey” was completed in July 2009, and is the firm’s second annual survey on this topic. More than 140 U.S.-based organizations participated in the survey.

Nearly all (99 percent) respondents provide prescription drug coverage as part of their health care program for active employees. The two reasons given as most important for providing this coverage are the health of employees and business competitiveness issues.

Seventy-six percent of respondents use employee cost sharing as a utilization management tool, up substantially from 51% last year. The most common target cost-sharing range is 11% to 20% of claim costs.

While 73% of respondents cited are taking advantage of low-cost generic pricing offered by retail pharmacy chains as a high priority, only 26% require their mail service provider to match these low-cost retail generic prices.

NOTEBOOK NUMBERS
Notebooks represented three out of four computers shipped to the U.S. consumer market during the second quarter of 2009, according to IDC, a global provider of market intelligence in the technology equipment sectors.

The preliminary data shows that the U.S. PC market, which includes desktops and laptops, contracted by just 1.4% compared to an earlier projection of -3.1%, and this result can be attributed entirely to the consumer notebook market.

What is even more indicative of unabated consumer attraction to mobile computing is that the consumer notebook growth is estimated at a solid 63% year on year, IDC noted.

While the commercial desktop and notebook shipments fell by 25% as a result of substantially reduced IT budgets, and the consumer desktop market was down by 9%, the consumer notebook market expanded to a new record of more than 6.3 million units.

With the desktop market severely cannibalized by laptops and relegated to niche markets, the U.S. mobile ratio, or the share of notebooks in total PC shipments, has reached the 58.9% mark in the second quarter of 2009.

ENERGY IGNORANCE
A new survey from Harris Interactive suggests that “much education is needed to enhance public knowledge, understanding and interest in various sources of electrical power, their associated benefits and risks and the value of becoming more energy efficient.”

Only one in ten Americans (9%) are very knowledgeable about sources of electrical power, while half (50%) are fairly knowledgeable. Further, only one in five U.S. adults (21%) are very interested in keeping up to date about energy issues related to the sources of electrical power and energy efficiency with 53% saying they are fairly interested.

When it comes to renewable sources of energy and natural gas, the public overwhelmingly indicates that the benefit of the source outweigh the risks. At least two-thirds of Americans believe that when used, the benefits of solar (82%), wind/turbine (78%), hydroelectric (water) (73%) and natural gas (66%) outweigh any risks associated with the different sources.

Coal, which provides approximately half (49%) of electrical power production in the United States and is the most heavily used source of energy, is perceived differently. Two in five Americans (42%) say the risks of using coal outweigh the benefits while 36% believe the benefits outweigh the risks.

Nuclear energy, which is seeing resurgence in the number of new plants, leans towards the benefits with 44% of Americans saying the benefits outweigh the risks and 34% believing the risks outweigh the benefits.

With regard to biomass and geothermal, large numbers (60% and 40% respectively) are not at all sure.

WHAT RETIREMENT PLANS?
Research from the Principal Financial Group shows that American business owners focus on the present with no long-term plan to exit or transition their business.

Among those surveyed, nearly seven out of 10 owners (66%) report they do not have an exit plan to transition their business in the event of death, disability or retirement. Instead, owners focus on growing their business (70%) followed by achieving business stability and remaining active in the business after retirement (both 47%).

Health insurance was the top priority for business owners, yet more than half of owners (58%) do not currently offer this benefit.

Business protection followed in importance, but according to the survey, six out of 10 (61%) do not have plans in place to help them protect their business in the case of death, disability or termination of key employees.

Retirement plans came in at number three, yet only about one in five (19%) offer a 401(k) plan to employees.

TIRE KICKERS
Recent research from Edmunds.com says that approximately 100,000 car shoppers have been preparing to buy a car, but haven’t yet closed the deal.

“There has been a recent surge of purchase intent that has not translated into sales,” said Edmunds.com Senior Analyst David Tompkins. “Given that these 100,000 shoppers represent about 10 percent of monthly sales, automakers and dealers should find a way to capitalize on the opportunity and entice these folks to actually buy.”

Edmunds.com analysts have calculated that the average mileage on trade-in vehicles is up 8% as compared to a year ago, and up 15% since January 2008. (The current average trade-in mileage is 65,883, while one year ago it was 61,038 and in January 2008 it was 57,079.)