The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Monday examined small businesses' efforts to identify "health plan changes or innovations" to help address rising health care costs. According to a study released earlier this month by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust, the percentage of small businesses that offer health benefits to employees fell to 63% this year from 68% in 2001. Another 4% of small businesses said they were "very likely" to end coverage following a 59% increase in health insurance premiums for all businesses in the past four years. To continue to offer health benefits to employees, small businesses are turning to a number of options ranging from "experimenting with new kinds of health plans" offered by insurers to "older remedies such as switching carriers or shifting additional costs to employees," the Post-Gazette reports. According to David Straight, president of the Benefits Network consulting firm, a growing number of small employers have been choosing to offer health reimbursement accounts, which are a form of the increasingly popular high-deductible plans. Health reimbursement accounts allow employees, employers or both to set aside a specified amount of money for health care expenses before insurance coverage takes effect. Another option for small business owners is to offer individual policies to employees, according to Allison McCoy, co-proprietor of Pennsylvania-based Versarias Insurance and Safety Associates. She said that non-group policies can save employers and employees as much as 40% off traditional small-group coverage. Aetna began offering non-group health options in Pennsylvania last year, with rates varying by age (Gaynor, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 9/19).