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Businesses search for options as costs continue to rise: dental access networks emerge as an alternative to insurance plans.

Article Excerpt
These days, potential and current employees are examining benefits packages with increasing scrutiny--and with good reason.

The high cost of health care and rising insurance premiums mean that these plans account for an increasing part of the compensation pie and demand greater out-of-pocket participation from employees. Offering a generous package is critical to attracting top talent and preventing a brain drain of workers leaving for competitors flush with perks.

Unfortunately, providing attractive benefits plans has become a heavy burden for employers, especially small businesses. According to testimony by a small business owner last February before the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, the annual cost per employee for health insurance has risen from about $650 per year in the mid1980s to $3,400 per year--that's a five-fold increase, or an average increase of almost 25 percent per year for the 17-year period.

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